


Wait For It:Part III

by Ceeridwen99



Series: Wait For It [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: (mentioned)Past Sexual Assault, (mentioned)Underage Drinking, Affection, Age Difference, Angst and Fluff, Come Shot, Fingering, Hickey kink, Human AU, M/M, Morning Sex, Oral Sex, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Sexual Overstimulation, Stress, Stress Induced Vomiting, Stress Induced breakdowns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-02 02:17:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 31,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16296383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ceeridwen99/pseuds/Ceeridwen99
Summary: “And if there’s a reason, I’m by her side when so many have tried, then I’m willing to wait for it~”Simon thought the hard part would be leaving his husband, but the hard part came after. He is constantly stressed and harassed by Michael, and on top of that, his mother who he fears but never mentioned is finally entering the picture. Luckily he has the support of Markus, but as everything starts to look up again, he comes to the cruel realization that Michael just might not want to let him go.





	Wait For It:Part III

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [【授权翻译】Wait For It Part III 静待来时 第三部](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18009608) by [SueandRabbit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SueandRabbit/pseuds/SueandRabbit)



> Hello, my pretty darlings! Let me tell you, this was a MONSTER. Nearly TEN-THOUSAND words longer than the previous two. I wanted to get this out sooner, but dammit EVERYTHING seemed to want to go wrong this week. From hardware issues to body issues. Ugh, it’s been a hell of a week, but I still worked really hard to get this done! This is the final part of the series! Buckle up because there is a lot of reading and A LOT happens!
> 
> I hope that you guys enjoy it!
> 
> Quick shout out to one of my readers @artrabbitillustration! They have gifted me with some LOVELY and I mean LOVELY fan-art for this fic as well as my other story The Creator! I pretty much DIED inside! XD It is SO wonderful and I am so honored and flattered they drew fan-art for me!\\(TT//w//TT)/ You can check it out here--> https://artrabbitillustration.tumblr.com/post/178959399399/wait-for-it-doodles-for-ceeridwen99-carnival
> 
> What are still reading this for? Go look at it!
> 
> ...So... did you look at it yet? :'D
> 
> ...It's awesome, right?
> 
> ...Now... go follow them!

Part Three

Thursday, September 5th, 2038

Simon sighed as his phone buzzed yet again. He had long since turned off the sound. He didn’t even have to check to see who it was. He knew it was Michael. He hadn’t STOPPED calling him since he left. It was honestly getting a little worrying. He sent him text after text and voice mail after voice mail. Markus had suggested that he block the number, and he for a moment considered it, but he would wait to see what his lawyer would say. 

Well, potential lawyer.

If he could find the courage to call and speak to them. 

Simon sighed again as he looked around the small apartment. It was a lot cleaner than it normally was, not that it was really dirty. An artistic mess was more accurate. Still, even that was neater thanks to him. He couldn’t help it. Cleaning helped settle his nerves. Hence his previous house not having a speck of dirt within it. It gave him something to distract himself with while his phone buzzed away and he came to terms with this change in his life. Markus was quite shocked when he came home from dropping off a painting to find all of his supplies sorted, cleaned, and organized by size and in alphabetical order. 

The thought of Markus warmed him. The young artist had been really supportive in the last couple of weeks. He was always supportive but he kicked it up an extra notch. He was always asking him if he was okay or if he needed something. He made sure to always spend his nights with him, and tried to keep him overall distracted from the onslaught of grief his soon to be ex-husband was giving him.

Simon’s favorite pastime they had taken up was walking Princess at night. The temperature was finally starting to drop. The nights not longer cool but muggy and instead of having a chilly breeze to accompany them. Princess enjoyed the walks heavily since she didn’t have as much room to move around as she used to. She also REALLY loved Markus, and he secretly loved her. Simon had seen him sneaking her more treats than she needed. 

Simon glanced at his phone as it yet again buzzed. He picked it up this time because the tone was Markus’s personal one. He was asking him what he wanted to eat for lunch. After a quick reply, he decided to stop putting off this phone call he was dreading and opened his contact information. He pressed the name that all children feared growing up, and dialed the number. 

“Simon, honey! It’s been so long since you called me! How are you darling?” Despite his nerves, he felt happy to hear her voice, it always amazed him how soft her voice was despite her New Yorker accent. A real smile forced its way onto his face.

“Hi, mom. I’m so sorry that I haven’t called.”

“You should be sorry! I worry about you every single day when you haven’t called me in a while! I know that Michael doesn’t like me, but don’t you EVER let that stop you from calling me, do you understand?!” The mention of Michael caused a knot to form in his stomach and throat. He wasn’t worried about what she would think of him leaving Michael. She would be more than happy to learn that he had. He was dreading the questions of why he left Michael. THAT was what she WASN’T going to be happy with.

He was wondering if he should even tell her about Markus. She technically didn’t need to know yet. He really didn’t want to give her a reason to dislike Markus before she even met him. 

“Simon, come on out of your head baby. I know this call wasn’t random and that you called me for a particular reason, so what is it?” She sounded as patient as she could but Simon could hear the stern tone of her voice. He didn’t blame her for that tone. She had formed it from being a lawyer and having to convince people of her point. He HATED that tone when he was younger though. 

“Simon?” She said. Simon sighed and decided to stop procrastinating. 

“Um, yes mom. I...did call you for a reason,” He paused. She was patient. She always was... most of the time. 

“I left Michael.” Might as well get to the point. 

“Thank fucking GOD–I mean...Oh no, honey!” Her reaction caused him to laugh even though he definitely didn’t feel like laughing. 

“Wow, really mom?’

“Well, I’m sorry! I never wanted you to marry him in the first place, but you are so damn stubborn!” He held back a sigh this time because she was far too right about that. 

“So what finally made you decided to pull the trigger and leave his sorry ass?”His heart felt like it had fallen in his stomach. This was what he had been dreading...what did he say to her? He couldn’t just come straight out and say that he had an affair...with a twenty-one-year-old at that. She would crucify him through the phone. He could hear her now, his head would explode from her screeching and everything. If he told her the truth he was sure that she would hate Markus forever.

“It’s...a lot to explain, but it’s final this time. I’m not going back to him.” There was a moment of silence. He could FEEL that she knew he wasn’t telling her something. 

He blinked when he heard the front door open and Princess came scampering to him instantly. He smiled as she jumped into his lap. Markus peeked his head around the corner at him. He raised an eyebrow and gestured to his phone. Simon held a finger to quiet him. He nodded and went into the kitchen with the bag that he was carrying. 

“So where are you staying right now, I know that you can’t be staying at the house. I KNOW Michael didn’t take this well.” Simon frowned, remembering their conversation. Michael begging him not to leave him, and then his mean and foul words that followed. He shouldn’t be offended by them since he DID cheat, but it still hurt to be talked to like that. Especially since it wasn’t the first time.

He couldn’t tell her that he was staying with Markus. That would set her down on another line of questioning he wasn’t prepared for yet.

“I’m... just staying with a friend for right now. Michael doesn’t know where he lives so I’m safe.” 

“He?”

Simon cursed himself. Of course, she would hone in on that word. She was trained to listen to the way people talked so she could get the truth. 

“Yes, mom he. But that’s not important, I was calling to see if you could recommend any lawyers out this way for me to use.” He actually wanted her to represent him, but on second thought maybe it was best that he handled this alone.

His mom was silent. “Yes, I can. You’re talking to one right now. The soonest I can be there is by Monday.” Oh... FUCK!

‘No, no it’s okay mom you don’t have to do that! I know your schedule you have to be busy.”

“Schedules can be rearranged. I’ll do anything for my baby, plus I REALLY want to see Michael’s face when I force him to sign those fucking papers! I’m going to go book the plane now. Remember you still have access to that account if you need it, I very much doubt Michael will willing give you any money. I’ll see you next week baby. Bye!” With that Simon was left staring at the phone in disbelief until reality hit him. 

Oh shit. OH SHIT! His mother was coming! One way or another she was going to find out about Markus and meet him. Holy shit, what was he going to do!

“Siiiiiimon,” He blinked to see a plate with a sandwich and fries being waved in front of his face. Markus was standing before him a worried expression on his face. He looked into his green, open, and understanding eyes. Holy fuck, he was going to meet his mother!

“My mother's going to hate you!” Markus’ brows rose comically in surprise. He gave a concerned smile and sat down next to Simon. They mostly ate on his bed/mat thing as he still wasn’t sure what it was or where he got it. It was more comfortable than just sitting on the floor. 

“O-kay, that came out of nowhere. How did this come about?” Markus at this point was used to him randomly blurting out information without any context whatsoever. He set Simon’s food and drink in front of him and picked at his own food while he waited for Simon to explain. 

Simon was so flattered to see that he had gotten him a sandwich that was actually made to his liking, he even got him fries to go with it knowing that it was his guilty pleasure. Markus himself had some raw vegetables and a dipping sauce to eat with his. Simon can already see who the healthy one was in their relationship.

Relationship...it felt good to say that word without having the weight of his marriage tied to it. Even though they were technically still married, his relationship with Michael was over. At least in Simon’s eyes. Michael didn’t want to give it up it seemed given how many messages he kept leaving him. 

“So what’s this about your mother hating me?” Markus asked popping a carrot into his mouth. 

Simon shook his head and picked up one of his fries. “You know she’s a lawyer right?” Markus nodded. “Well, she decided that she’s going to represent me during the divorce and...she’s flying in this Monday.” 

Markus chewed thoughtfully at him. “Okay, that’s not telling me anything about why she would hate me.”

Simon sighed. “Because she forms strong opinions about people, and when she does she doesn’t let them go easily. Once she finds out that I left Michael mainly for you, she’s going to gather the wrong opinion about you in her head.” 

Markus raised his eyebrow. “Really, you left him for me?” He spoke around a mouthful. 

Simon glared at him. "Are you being funny right now?” By the way the younger man's shoulder’s shook in withheld laughter, he obviously was. 

“I don’t expect her to be particularly happy with me Simon, given the circumstances. I mean, I am just twenty-one. She’ll probably think I’m just some fuck-boy something. Hopefully, she’ll change her mind in the future.” Simon’s heart soared. This wasn’t the first time that Markus had spoken about their relationship in a long-term fashion. It gave Simon so much hope that he had made the right decision. 

“Plus, I haven’t told my dad about you either. Even though Elijah knows about you, but he hasn’t said anything about knowing.” Simon paused mid-chew. The CEO may have not said anything to Markus, but he had to him. Should he tell the younger man? He didn’t like the idea of keeping secrets between them, that was one of the reasons his relationship with Michael fell apart. One of the many reasons anyway. 

Best to keep things open between them.“Um... he said something to me.” Markus’s eyes widened and he choked on his drink some. 

“What?! When?!” He asked. He looked seconds from panicking. 

Simon kept his gaze averted. “...A few weeks ago. He called me as asked me to meet him at a coffee shop so we could talk.” He risked a glance at Markus. The younger man didn’t look angry just annoyed. 

“Oh god, I can only imagine how that went. What did he say?” 

Simon shrugged. “He didn’t really say anything. He just told me not to hurt you.” 

Markus blinked, obviously not expecting that. “That’s it? He didn’t say anything else?” 

Oh, he had said a lot, but Simon was omitting quite a bit of the conversation. “Well, that was the just of everything.” 

Markus ran a hand over his face. “I suppose I should be happy it was just that. Elijah can get downright mean sometimes. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You were with your father that day, and I wanted you to enjoy your time with him. I also didn’t want you to get mad at him for it. He loves you, Markus, that much was clear and he just wanted to make sure that you won't get hurt.”

Markus sighed. “Yeah I can understand that, but I still wish you had told me. I... don’t like secrets...you know despite this whole thing between us.” 

Simon now felt really bad that he didn’t tell him. "I’m sorry Markus. I really didn’t want to worry you.’ Markus was silent for a moment. 

“It’s okay...just...don't keep any more secrets from me. I’m not him... you can talk to me.” Simon smiled although it was sad. 

“I know that I can, Markus.” They were silent for a moment before a question that had been nagging at the back of his mind re-entered his head. 

“Since...we’re being honest and agreed no more secrets between us...can you tell me who North is?” 

Markus frowned. “Did he tell you about her too?”

Simon shook his head. “Not directly. He just mentioned her name, and her name was mentioned when we were at the restaurant. Was she the ex that you told me about?” 

Markus sighed pushing the rest of his food away. “Yeah. I’m guessing you can gather that we didn’t end on good terms.” 

Simon brows crinkled in concern. Something was bothering the artist about her, and it was SERIOUS. He could tell his lover's body language. 

“Markus... you don’t have to tell me.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s not really a secret... I mean... I guess in a way it is... but–it’s just..it hurts to think about what happened.” Simon felt his stomach form in a knot as Markus took a deep breath. 

“My family doesn’t know what really happened between the two of us. They think we just broke up over some stupid teenage shit... but it was MUCH more complicated than that.” Markus sighed and took a deep breath again. 

“North and I started dating when we were sixteen. Our relationship was normal as one between a couple of teenagers can be. We dated for a while but we never really said ‘I love you’ to each other, and trust me everyone around the school was. I didn’t think that we were going to say it to each other, but one day...she did. I don’t know... I cared for her A LOT... but I...” 

Simon nodded and pushed away his food. Princess having scampered off his lap somewhere in the apartment, so it was safe to leave his food unguarded.

“You didn’t love her.” He finished for him.

Markus nodded. “I couldn’t bring myself to tell her. She knew that I was kinda emotionally laid back about that stuff so she never really pushed for me say it. I showed her that I cared about her but, I could never say it to her.” For some reason this made Simon feel really uneasy. He hoped that it wouldn't be the same between them. They didn’t know each other long enough to say ‘I love you’ yet, but still... he hoped that they would never be like this. 

“Eventually after a while she started to get a little irritated that I would never say it. When we turned eighteen... that’s when shit hit the fan between us. It was the last year of high school, and EVERYONE was throwing parties. I never really attended, because I mostly stayed home to take care of my father. But I was talked into going to this one by a couple of who I thought were my friends. The party was at full swing and got even wilder when someone snuck alcohol in. We were all pretty hammered and...fuck...” He broke off covering his face. Simon scooted close to him. He rested his head against his shoulder and grabbing one of his hands and held it. 

“What happened?” He kinda got a feeling where this was going but he wanted to hear it so he didn’t assume.

Markus took another deep breath. “North and I started arguing, and I got pissed off and walked outside. After I cooled down a bit and saw how rowdy the party was getting I went back in to find her so we could leave. Only I couldn’t find her anywhere. Someone told me that she and one of my ‘friends’ went upstairs.” Simon’s stomach twisted.

“I was fucking furious, I just knew what they were doing. I went up there to confront her. The music was pretty loud but once I got upstairs... I heard screaming... and.... it was North’s voice... and... she was screaming...for me.” Simon felt his chest freeze. Holy fuck, this was NOT where he thought this was going.

“I rushed to the room and broke the fucking door down and three of my fucking football ‘freinds’ where trying...they...they were trying... to rape her.” Simon bit his lip when Markus hid his head in his hands. He couldn’t believe it, he felt sick to his stomach listening to this. 

“I fucking lost it! I attacked all three of them! I will admit that I couldn’t take them all of at once and pretty much got my ass handed to me, but I was able to chase them off...”

Things were quiet between them for a moment. “Did they...” He asked. 

Markus let out a long-suffering sigh. “She wouldn’t tell me... but... I think... one of them managed to. She was never the same after that.” Simon really felt sick now. Holy fuck... he thought by the way the story was going that one of them cheated or something... not this.

“Did she go to the police?”

Markus shook his head. “I begged her to, but we were all underage drinking when it happened. If she went then it would take me down as well, and all scholarships I had would have gone down the drain. I didn’t care, I just wanted her to get justice, but... she wouldn’t do it. So, we just ignored what happened. I tried to distract myself with everything I could possibly do. However, that break down that I told you about... that’s what really caused it.” 

Markus kept his eyes closed as he finished the story. “North and I were still together for about a year after we graduated, but... with everything that happened... I don’t know. When she got accepted to a college out of state I suggested that we break up. I didn’t want her tied down to me you know, or at least that what I told myself. The truth was I knew every time she looked at me I reminded her of what happened and... it was the same for me. She didn’t want to be with me anymore...WE didn’t want to be together anymore but...she clung to me almost like she HAD to be near me. I figured that she wouldn’t be able to move on and heal as long as she was with me... or hell maybe I broke up with her because ‘I’ couldn’t handle what happened...I don’t know. Fuck I feel like shit every time I think about it.”

“ When I broke up with her, she broke down crying. She begged me not to do it. She asked me if I was doing this because of what happened at the party. I assured her it wasn’t but... she didn’t believe me. In the end, I had to tell her, that I couldn’t love her the way that she wanted to be loved which was true...but...not the only reason. I don’t think she believed any of that shit...I think she thinks I didn’t want to be with her because of what happened, but I swear that wasn’t it– I can’t explain it but, it swear it wasn’t.“ Simon rubbed his shoulders.

“I know, Markus. I understand.” He whispered.

Markus frowned, this clearly tormented him. “I never wanted to hurt her... but I know I did.” 

“Trust me, Markus... I know how that feels. Thank you... for telling me this.” He hugged him, and Markus embraced him back, holding him tightly.

It seems that both of their previous relationships didn’t end on a good note.

Hopefully...this one did.

***

Simon noticed that he felt extremely calm while he washed the few dishes in the sink. Considering his current set of circumstances, and the things he had learned about Markus a few hours ago it was shocking. He considered himself an overall calm person, other than his small bouts of anxiety. To feel as relaxed as he did with not an ounce of tension in his shoulders nor his brow crinkled slightly at all, was... astounding. He felt amazing...liberated.

Logically speaking going from one relationship right into another wasn’t considered the best thing to do–he would hear an earful from his mother when she found out– but he didn’t feel like he was being weighed down or stuck in this situation. He was here of his OWN accord and choice. 

Simon dried off his hands and went to dry the plates. Markus assured him that he didn’t have to clean, but he felt like he SHOULD be doing something. It was bad enough that he was already staying here without providing any financial support. Markus told him not to worry about it, as he didn’t expect him to contribute anything considering his current circumstances, but it still, didn’t feel right. 

Markus was doing alright money wise right now because of all the work he just did, but what about later on? Simon didn’t know how often he got work. It must not have been a lot if this apartment was all that he could afford. Not that Simon wasn’t beginning to enjoy the small space. Markus did his best to make it homey, and it was easy to keep clean at least. 

He wondered if he should touch the account that his mother made for him, but... he really didn’t want to. It was bad enough that his mother was putting her life on hold to come to help him with his domestic problems. 

Oh god... his mother was coming to visit. Just thinking that made his heart pound. He loved his mom, he did but GOD she was hard to handle at times. She was overprotective, and her personality was overbearing at times...nearly all the time. He could only imagine how she was going to act when she got here...when she found out about Markus.

He really didn’t want her to scare Markus off. Then again, if his husband didn’t scare him off then he doubted –hoped– his mother wouldn’t either. 

Simon shook his head. He had to stop getting distracted too easily, how on earth did he go from finances to thinking of his Godzilla-like mother. It was a wonder that Markus could handle his thought scattered brain.

Thinking of Markus, he couldn’t help but think about everything that he had told him. Simon felt for his ex-girlfriend. That was a horrific experience that NO ONE should have to suffer through. He could only imagine it. The breakup was obviously hard on the both of them. He could understand Markus’s point of view and why he thought it was best that they break up. Markus obviously blamed himself for what happened, even though it wasn’t his fault. Something like that wasn’t random, it had been planned. Even if he wasn’t there those boys would have still tried to do that to her if she had been there. Markus being there stopped them all from attacking her...hopefully. But Markus being her boyfriend, probably felt like he failed to protect her.

He could only imagine from her point of view. She had obviously formed an unhealthy attachment to Markus because he saved her, and she wanted to say with him even if she didn’t WANT to be with him anymore and it hurt her too. The fact that she didn’t go to the police was a shining testament. She hadn’t gone because she didn’t want to risk losing Markus. Plus the poor thing had to be scared. A party where she had been drinking and football players. There was all manner of ways that would be spun around in court, it wasn’t surprising that she didn’t want to go through that. It was terrible that she even had to worry about not being believed at all, and she had to live with the thought of her attacker(s) roaming free the rest of her life. That was something that no teenager... honestly... NO ONE at all should have to go through. 

It was truly tragic.

No wonder the younger man was so mature for his age.

Simon couldn’t help but wonder what about him made the younger man want him. Given all that he had been through, what drew him to him. It couldn’t be stability. That was something he definitely didn’t have right now. His looks could be part of it, but Simon honestly didn’t think he was anything special. He was average at best. Not like the gorgeous young man. He didn’t have any amazing qualities about him, at least he didn’t think so. He was a decent cook, he was good with children and cleaning. But that was it. What could the younger man see in him? As far as Simon knew, you were supposed to go up when you started a new relationship not down. 

Simon threw down the rag he was using to wipe down the counters with a sigh. That was self-deprecating, even for him. He knew it was just his insecurities talking. He had to stop thinking like that. There had to be something about him that Markus liked, he wouldn’t be with him otherwise. He wouldn’t have been willing to sneak around with him. Simon sighed and covered his eyes. He had no idea what he was going to do. The reality of everything hitting him out of nowhere.

He had nothing. 

He didn’t have his career. He didn’t have his own money. He didn’t have his own home. He had just given up everything that he had, and even all of that wasn’t his. Michael paid for everything. Michael practically owned except his car but Michael bought that for him and just put it in his name.

Simon felt like a helpless child, always having to rely on people. He was relying on his mother to get him through this divorce, and now he was relying on Markus. Could he do anything for himself, was all he was useful for homemaking and sex.

That’s what it felt. 

Simon covered his face. He could feel his eyes burning.

He felt like a failure. 

“Simon?”

Simon couldn’t face him. He tensed when Markus walked up to him and placed a hands on his shoulder. 

“Simon, are you crying, baby what’s wrong?” Simon sniffed, his shoulders shook of their own accord. He really wanted to say that he was alright, but he knew that Markus wouldn’t believe him. He wouldn’t be crying if he was alright. Markus...could always tell when something was bothering him. Even when he wasn’t crying. He didn’t ignore him as Michael did. He remembered his words from earlier. ‘I’m not him Simon...you can talk to me.’

Simon removed his hands to wipe his damp cheeks. Markus proceeded to freak out. 

“Oh no, you are crying! Why are you crying?! What happened?! Is it him, do I need to kick his ass because I have been wanting a reason to do it!?” Simon laughed despite himself and hugged Markus. He rested his head against his shoulder.

“Why are you so perfect?”He asked through his tears. 

Markus wrapped his arms around him and held him tight. “I’m anything BUT perfect Simon.”

Simon sniffed feeling another stream of tears fall down his cheeks. “What happened wasn’t your fault.” Markus froze from rubbing his hand down his back, he pulled away from his in order to get a better look. Simon kept his gaze averted. 

“Is that what’s bothering you?”

Simon shrugged. “Yes... no. I don’t know, I just–“ He honestly didn’t know why he was crying anymore, it was just an onslaught of emotions and reality hitting him at once.

Markus caressed his cheek.“Simon, I know that what happened wasn’t my fault. I did blame myself for a LONG TIME, I told myself that I shouldn’t have gotten mad and left her alone. I told myself that it was my fault, that I should have known that they were going to try something like that, but the hard truth and reality is... that there was no way that I could have known. I do still regret what happened, but I don’t let it hold me down anymore. I just... it hurts to talk about it.”

That was good to hear, but that still didn’t stop his tears. Markus gently wiped them away. “That’s not all that’s bothering you is it?”

It really wasn’t, but where did he start. He didn’t want to make it seem like they only talked about him. That was something he detested when he was with Michael, he always spun the conversation around so that it was about him. He didn’t want it to be that way with Markus.

“Simon, you can’t talk to me. No matter what it’s about.” Markus said earnestly. 

Simon took a deep breath, and he remembered who he was talking to. He could talk to Markus, he didn’t have to hide what he was feeling anymore. He didn’t have to suffer alone. But...

“Markus...what do you see in me?” The questions obviously surprised Markus by the way he jolted. Simon couldn’t look at him but he could imagine what his face looked like. 

“What do you mean, Simon?”

Simon gestured over himself. “Look at me. What’s special about me. I have nothing that I can give you, no money, I don’t have a home or ANYTHING to me. I’m having to rely on you right now because I have nothing. You’re so kind and sweet and considerate and compassionate, and you deserve SO much more than I’ve been able to give you. You deserve so much more than a fucking 35-year-old man, who could only sneak around with you because he was too afraid to leave his husband. You deserve so much more than me.”

“Please don’t say that Simon. You don’t see...what I see when I look at you. I don’t care about your age, its literally just number–even though I hate saying that because it feels like I’m enabling pedophiles who say that,” Simon blinked, it seemed like he wasn’t the only one who got off course with their thoughts. Markus placed a finger under his chin and slowly lifted his head to look at him. 

“Simon...when I look at you...it’s like nothing and no one else exist for me. I can’t explain it but the night that we met, and I saw you sitting on that couch, as cheesy as it sounds you were glowing to me, there were angels and a chorus and everything.” Simon closed his eyes, he couldn’t stop his smile. 

“ It sounds really creepy now that I think about it, but I watched you for a while trying to work up the courage to talk to you.” Markus smiled, grabbing one of his hands and placing it over his chest. Right over his heart. “I remembered my heart beating so fast the first time we made eye contact. How it skipped a beat whenever you smiled. I honestly didn’t even notice you were wearing a wedding ring, I was so entranced with you. I was SO disappointed the next day when I found out you were married. Regardless of how it may seem, I was taught to respect marriage and relationships growing up, cheating was never something I ever thought about.”

“That day that we talked, I didn’t even notice the time flying by. I was just as shocked as you to see that we had talked that long. I felt so relaxed when I was with you. I thought... ‘Wow, he’s so lucky to have him.’” Markus’s expression turned firm. “Then I saw how he treated you and I was furious. I hated how much he took you for granted, how upset he made you, how tense you were in your own home. He had you, and he didn’t even care, it wasn’t fair.”

Markus’s expression softened again. “That night... what we have... I never planned for it to happen. I just... I wanted to be with you. I wanted to show you how much you were worth... and I didn’t care that he was there, I wanted you to be mine. I know that makes me sound horrible and selfish and it really is there’s no denying it. But Simon.. you don’t see what’s special about you but I do. I see a kind, caring person who’s a bit quiet but is also sassy as hell and very passionate. I love how your eyes light up when you talk about something you love. I love your smile and laugh. I love how strong you are, and how strong you continue to be. You may not see what you’re worth Simon...but I do.”

Simon closed his eyes and sighed. His heart was pounding and he felt like he was floating at the passionate words. What could he say to something like that? “Wow... you had to have rehearsed all of that.”

Markus laughed and pushed his shoulder. “You see! I’m trying to be all romantic and poetic with my words and your response is to be an ass!”

Simon smiled wiping his cheeks of his leftover tears. “You can be an ass too! How many times am I being serious and you crack a joke...and a lot of the times it’s a dirty one!”

Markus smiled. “Well, we’re both asses then. That means we’re perfect for each other.” Simon shook his head and pulled him into another hug. 

“You’re a dork.”

“You love it.”

Simon smiled. Yeah, he just might.

***  
Saturday, September 7th, 2038 

Simon woke up with sex on the brain. It had been a while since he and Markus had sex. Markus had jerked him off in the shower, kissed him within an inch of his life, and gave him more than one blow-job one, and they grinded against each other one morning... However, other than that they hadn’t had penetrative sex since the day he left Michael. One reason being that Simon was sore as hell after HE decided he wanted to go raw without any preparation. He enjoyed the experience, and he wasn’t injured or anything but his ass complained for days. It didn’t help that he and Markus went more than once that day as well.

The other reason, was because he simply wasn’t in the mood after the whole situation with Michael. He and Markus mostly fooled around to distract and relax him. At first, he had been worried that something had changed between him and Markus, but then Markus jumped him in the shower one day and that put that to rest.

To be honest, he really shouldn’t be thinking about sex. His mother was going to be here in a day and he knew he was going to be forced to tell her the truth about Markus. Michael stressed him by continuously calling and texting him, and he had to take Princess to the vet after she got into Markus’ paint and she apparently ate some. Simon rushed her to the vet scared out of his mind. He had to use the account his mother set up for him in order to pay for it and that cost him a fucking arm, leg, and entire kidney because they wanted to keep her Friday and Saturday to make sure she was fine.

Even with ALL of that going on, it apparently didn’t stop him from waking up with morning wood. Markus was still asleep next to him on his back, and Simon was curled into him and his aroused neither regions were pressed RIGHT against his hard muscular thigh. The hardness of the muscled thigh pressed against him in just the right way, and the urge to rut against his leg was really high. But he had more self-control than that...he hoped. 

Instead, he debated how he should wake Markus up so the younger man could take care of his...urges. Sure he could easily go to the bathroom to take care of it himself so he didn’t have to wake the artist. BUT, he wanted Markus to take care of the problem. He was acting like a spoiled bratty baby, but...he was too horny to care.

He shifted his hip experimentally and held back a whine at the delicious friction. He had more dignity than this, although it would have been an interesting way to wake Markus up. It was also a hot idea as well. They would have to discuss that possibility with each other later. 

He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against Markus’s neck. It was a gentle kiss at first, and then he pressed harder when it didn’t give him the reaction he wanted. He narrowed his eyes at Markus when the harder kisses did nothing as well. Damn, this boy could sleep. He ran his tongue slowly up the side of his neck and then lightly sucked on a spot. That garnered a reaction. Finally. But to his dismay, Markus still didn’t wake up. He just he shifted, and then went right back to sleep. 

OH HELL NO! He was DETERMINED to wake him up now! Fuck being subtle! He maneuvered himself and laid down on top of him, he held back a moan as his hardness pressed against his partners' member. Even flaccid Markus wasn’t small, and he pressed against Simon delightfully. And his body, ugh... it was hard and oh so delicious against him. Markus didn’t even flinch as Simon often climbed on top of him in his sleep so he was used to the movement.

He stuck his tongue out and traced that glorious tattoo with it. He stuck mostly to the shoulder area so he didn’t have to move off him, but when Markus didn’t wake up from that he got offended. He sat up and began to trace Markus’s muscled chest with his tongue. Luckily he slept shirtless. He really shouldn’t be doing this while Markus was asleep. Even if they were together almost officially now, he should still get his consent to...play with him while he was asleep. He only wanted him to wake up though... that’s all he wanted.

Simon sucked marks onto his pretty caramel colored chest. Markus kept himself pretty well groomed, so he didn’t have much hair to fight with. His tongue glided smoothly against his chest. He honestly couldn’t get enough of the taste. He tasted soap and leftover cologne and a flavor that had to be purely Markus. It was addicting and honestly didn’t want to stop at his chest. Even so, he moved to the younger man's nipples and sucked one into his mouth. He held back a smiled when he felt the artist shift and his hips twitch in interest. He shifted again when he slightly nibbled on it. He reached up and with his other hand and rubbed the other into a hard peak, he then moved to that one and immediately starting biting on the hardened nub. Markus sighed this time, but he still didn’t wake up. Simon was throbbing in his pants, but at the moment, he didn’t care and just wanted to see what other reactions he could get out of Markus.

He leaned back up and began sucking on his neck again. His stubble scratched his face, but Simon honestly liked it. Markus was getting more aroused with every nibble and lave of his tongue. Simon was shocked at just how much of a hard sleeper the younger man was. He had honestly had no idea because Markus was always up before him.

He leaned back a trail of saliva following his lips and breaking. He observed the handiwork he left on Markus. Red and purple love bites blooming against his chest and neck. He bit his lip. His arousal was through the roof, he didn’t think himself a possessive person, but seeing his CLAIM on Markus brought out a side of him he wasn’t aware he had. He didn’t realize a lot about himself until he met Markus. 

He wanted to keep going, to keep marking him up, but he was too horny and feeling Markus now hard and pressed against him was too much and he wanted him inside him. He frantically shook Markus’s shoulders and patted them. 

“Markus, wake up!” His voice was impatient and he felt giddy when the pretty-eyed man finally opened his gorgeous green orbs. He blinked for a moment trying to come to himself before he looked over himself and his eyes widened. 

“Holy fuck, I thought I was dreaming all of that!” Simon smiled as he looked far too turned on by the prospect. Simon leaned forward and hovered over Markus. 

“You sleep like a rock.” He then licked his lips and kissed him.

He ignored the morning breath they both honestly had and immediately went about dominating the younger man's mouth. He normally let Markus take the lead, as Markus really liked to be the dominant one. But that didn’t mean that Simon couldn’t lead if he wanted to. He kissed Markus deeply and thoroughly. Their tongues swirled hotly around each other, it was a slick and hot and when they broke apart saliva followed them. 

They both panted and Markus reached down and cupped his rear, his large hands squeezing and massaging his ass. “Fuck Simon, if this is how you want to wake me up from now on I’m not going to complain.” Simon grinned at the permission and filed it away for future reference. Oh, he had so much he wanted to explore with Markus.

“We’ll explore that later. Right now,” Simon leaned back and pulled off his t-shirt...well, Markus’s t-shirt. “I want you to fuck me.” Markus’ grin was devilish, and he flipped them over swiftly. They both struggled to take off their underwear, but they got there.

Markus kissed him again and practically sucked on his tongue. “With or without lube?”

Simon laughed. “I want to be able to walk to tomorrow, so lube.” Markus grinned and reached for the bottle, then Simon got an idea. He snatched the bottle out of the younger man's hand and bit his lip when he was given a questioning look. 

“I want to do it.” He said simply and Markus looked like he was going to come on the spot. 

He quickly got back a hold of himself, trying to appear calm about the situation.“By all means.” 

Simon held back a laugh and opened the cap. It then dawned on him what he was about to do. He felt very awkward but...also... insanely turned on at the same time. He spread his legs open, and against his will blushed. Markus gently caressed his legs. “You’re fine, baby.” That settled his nerves some. He squirted some of the lube onto his fingers and rubbed it between his fingers. It was warming lube so as soon as he felt it starting to heat up he reached between his legs. He couldn’t look at Markus, not yet anyway so he closed his eyes. 

He bit his lips and traced the outside of his opening. His breathing picked up, he was extremely turned on and knowing that Markus’s was watching his every move didn’t help either. Gently, he began pressing a finger inside. He was slow, meticulous as he did this. He wasn’t used to doing this to himself and he hoped that it didn’t show. His breathing hitched as he started to slowly pump the finger in and out. The lube making the entire thing easier and stimulating him more. He whimpered when he slipped his finger in deeper, and he almost froze when he heard Markus breath hitch. His own breathing picked up and he began moving the finger in and out faster.

Suddenly, one finger wasn’t enough and he needed MORE. He inserted another finger and this time allowed himself to openly moan. He tossed his head back and groaned scissoring his fingers to stretch him wider. He pressed the fingers deeper, he was slightly frustrated he couldn’t go deep enough to brush that glorious spot inside of him. To compensate he added another finger and began thrusting them in and out of him hard. He cried out and breathlessly moaned Markus’s name.

He was surprised when his hand was ripped out of him and he was tossed on his back. Markus grasped his thighs and held them apart. Simon bit his lips and held back a shout as Markus without another word began to push in. It didn’t hurt in the least, but it was intense. 

Markus didn’t let up, he kept pushing in until he was sheathed all the way. Without wasting another moment he began thrusting without any restraint whatsoever. Simon covered his mouth, trying to hold back his screams. Markus ripped the hand away from his mouth. 

“Fuck--no don’t, I want to hear it!”

Simon still tried to hold them back and shook his head. “Som–AH!–Someone–Oh God!– someone could hear Markus–MHN!”

Markus practically bent him in half and leaned over him. He grinned his hips not stopping. “ Good. Let everyone hear how you’re mine now!” He grunted out. Simon’s eyes rolled back when he hit his prostate and continued to abuse it once he realized he had. He gasped when Markus suddenly flipped him over holding his hips in the air and began thrusting into him even harder.

“Shit Simon, you’re so fucking tight and fuck–“ Simon screamed as he thrust impossibly harder. And he wanted even more. “Markus–Mmm!– My hair– fuck!– pull my hair–oh fuck yes!” Simon groaned when Markus grabbed a handful of his blonde locks and pulled tightly.

“Uhg! Fuck, harder Markus! OH! Please!”

Markus chuckled. “Which one?” He thrust in hard and pulled his hair at the same time.

“Oh God YES!” Simon didn’t know how much longer he would be able to hold out if he kept that up! He groaned when Markus pulled his hair harder.

“Oh, we are so–fuck!- going to have to –Mhph shit!– explore your kinks.” He pulled his hair again to reiterate, and Simon winced this time as it was a little too hard this time, but it turned him on all the same.

“Markus! Oh GOD, I’m going to–“ He grunted, and wanted to scream when Markus wrapped a hand around the base of his erection cutting off his orgasm. 

“Markus–“ He whined, but Markus leaned over him grunting in his ear, his thrust not slowing in the least. 

“Wait– fuck!– hold on a little longer.”

Simon fisted the covers of their mat/bed and cried out with every thrust. It was beginning to be a bit too much. The sound of their skin slapping together loud and filthy, and the friction slightly beginning to sting. The constant overstimulation turning him into a drooling panting mess. Markus’s thrust began to grow erratic and slightly sloppy as he neared his completion. Then suddenly he released his grip on Simon's erection and his orgasm hit him. It felt nearly extreme and his eyes rolled back. At the same time, he felt Markus hotly splash inside of him. Markus pulled his hair tight as he groaned and continued to thrust through his orgasm.

Simon’s eyes fluttered open. He blinked to find Markus rubbing a hand down his back. 

“Simon, shit are you alright?” He didn’t sound too worried. Simon looked over at him and he was still naked. Simon could feel an uncomfortable very wet stickiness on his front so he couldn’t have been out long. His orgasm must have been so hard he passed out. Well... that was certainly the first time that happened.

“I don’t know If I should be proud or worried,” Markus commented, stroking his hair gently. 

Simon smiled. “You made me come so hard I passed out. You should be proud, Markus. Very proud.”

Markus smiled. He leaned down and kissed his brow. “Seriously, are you okay. I wasn’t too rough was I?” Simon shook his head, and kissed him. “Did you hear me complain?”

Markus laughed and fell back against the bed. “Fuck, that was a wonderful way to wake up.” Simon smiled and sat up on one arm, looking down at the beautiful man. He traced the freckles across his nose before he rested his hand against his chest.

“Did you catch your breath?”

Markus raised an eyebrow.“Yeah...” Simon smiled wider and climbed on top of him again. 

“Good, cause I’m not where near done with you yet!” He pressed their lips together and grinned when Markus just smiled and pressed back into the kiss.

Oh, it was going to be a fun day.

***

Monday, September 9th, 2038

Even with the amazing weekend, he shared with Markus and as much as he wished it away, Monday and his mother eventually came. Markus offered to come with him to pick her up from the airport. He fiercely denied him. The young man wasn’t ready to meet his mother, and the longer he could put that off the better. He did ask him to pick up Princess from the Vet, as he wasn’t sure what time he would be back home. 

Home. 

Home with Markus.

It felt so good to say those words, he couldn’t wait until it was official. Simon arrived at the airport pretty early. His mother hadn’t even landed yet. He used the extra time to try and prepare himself for the time he was about to spend with her. He loved his mother, and he appreciated everything she tried to do for him, but she was very abrasive when it came to her opinions. That wasn’t a bad thing given what her profession was, however, she didn’t know how to let that abrasiveness go when talking to family.

He wondered if he should tell her about Markus right away. He already knew that he was going to have to speak to Michael with her in order to discuss the terms of their divorce. He really didn’t want Michael to be the one to tell her, that would go to hell in a handbasket really fast. Michael technically didn’t know that he WAS with Markus, as he never confirmed it, but Simon knew as soon as he was confronted with it, he wouldn’t be able to lie. 

Out of curiosity, he glanced through the messages that Michael sent him. He was happy to see one from Markus confirming that he picked Princess up and sent him a bunch of hearts and kissing emojis. He smiled and sent some back. 

His smile instantly went away the moment he opened a few messages from Michael. They were a mixture of him begging him to give a second chance, and him cursing him out. Simon figured ‘those’ were sent to him when he was drunk. He didn’t even bother to listen to the voicemails, he guessed they would be about the same as the text.

He wanted to delete them, but he decided to keep them just in case he needed to use them in court. He was sure that he was going to go to court, there was no way that Michael wasn’t going to contest the divorce. He knew that Michigan would only take about sixty days to finalize the divorce since they didn’t have any kids, but he didn’t know how long it would take if Michael didn’t co-operate. He wanted this to be done as soon and as smoothly as possible. He just wanted to move on with his life with Markus and begin anew.

He had talked to Markus about getting a part-time job until he got re-certified as a Pediatrician. Markus told him that he would support him with whatever he chose to do, but he told him he didn’t have to if he didn’t want to. Simon was confused at the lack of him wanting financial help and Markus sheepishly told him that Elijah paid him a ridiculous amount of money for his painting, so he was good for quite a while. Even so, Simon didn’t want to rely on him too much so he still considered some part-time jobs. It was a bit difficult looking for some, he didn’t have much experience outside of being a doctor, and he might not get hired at some of the ‘lower- ranked’ jobs because of that.

Simon’s heart started beating fast when he got a message from his mother. She had landed and was just waiting for her bags to come around, he sent her an okay and started up his car. He drove to the pickup areas and waited for her. Not even five minutes later, he saw her. Despite his nerves, he was EXTREMELY happy to see her. 

“SIMON, MY BABY!” She screamed. He winced, partly from how loud her voice was and partly because he was embarrassed at her reaction. He ignored the looks that they got from other people, and got out the car and ran to her. He picked her up and spun her around. He had honestly forgotten how short she was, well compared to him anyway. He was 5'9 boarding 5'10, and she was an exactly 5'2. She pulled away from him and grabbed his face. 

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, baby, let me look at you.” He stepped away from her and let her look him up and down. 

“You finally grew into your ears.” He blushed, and she laughed. “I’m sorry baby, but you were what 24 when you left and they were humongous and oh so red! I thought you were going to be stuck with them forever!”

“Mom...”He hoped she didn’t bring this up in front of Markus... if he lived after he told her about him. She may be small but she was a fiery force to be reckoned with. He looked her over, her once beautiful and long blonde hair had turned grey and been cut into a mid-length bob. She was dressed in her usual tailored suit attire, that about her hadn’t changed. Her face had a lot more wrinkles than he remembered.

“Come on let’s go. I’ve had enough of the airport. Your father says hello.” Simon grabbed her bag and placed it in the backseat. 

“How is dad?” He asked. He loved his parents but they didn’t speak often enough. Plus he and his dad had a... strange relationship. He didn’t approve of homosexuality, but he supported him anyway. That didn’t mean they didn’t get into fights with each other about it, however. He was honestly glad that he called his mother instead of him. His mother, of course, had no issue with him or anyone else being gay.

“Oh, he’s a big old grump. Always complaining about work and his back, but not willing to retire.” Simon nodded. Yup, that sounded like him. He sighed getting back into the car. He decided to drive by hand today. It was actually a strategic move, if he had their life in his hands she couldn’t go a rampage if he ended up bringing up Markus. 

“Let’s go and get an early lunch and then you can drop me off at my hotel. Pick somewhere downtown since my hotel is around there somewhere. So, how much has Michael been contacting you? I know for a fact that he isn’t taking this well and is going to take us to court, and I want to know if I need to get it court ordered for him to cease contact with you and only talk with me.” Simon took a deep breath, she always did get right to the point. He had to get it from somewhere. 

“Yes, he has. It’s a mixture, but there are nice ones asking for me to take him back, and...not so nice ones. I would like them all to stop if possible.” His mother nodded typing away on her phone. 

“Send them over to this email.” His phone buzzed at that exact moment. “I’ll put it in our case against him. We also need to discuss just how much you’ll be getting in alimony. You two didn’t sign any type of pre-nub when you got married and you're not working so everything is going to have to be calculated for the number of years that you’ve been married.”

Simon felt his stomach twist at the thought of being in the same room with Michael. “Mom, if we don’t have to go through that, then I really don’t want to. He can have everything if he wants, I just want my car and Princess.” He mom gave him look of disbelief. 

“Absolutely not, Simon! After everything that you have been through with him, and everything you put up with, you deserve something for all those years. I don’t care if it’s just the god damn house or fifteen dollars, you’re getting something out of that fucker.”

Simon sighed. “Mom, I just want to move on with my life, and with–“ He stopped himself. Oh shit, he almost said Markus’s name without thinking.

“And with what Simon?” She was looking right at him, and she could see that he was nervous. He cursed himself for slipping up. 

“Um...nothing.” 

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Simon, don’t lie to me now. With what?”

He was going to be forced to tell her rather he liked it or not. Also, he didn’t have to tell her the WHOLE truth about Markus. He could leave out some parts, and she would be none the wiser. 

“I...I’m seeing someone right now, mom.” He braced himself for her reaction and he was shocked when she didn’t say anything. She just looked at him for a long moment. 

He started to get nervous when she just kept staring. “Is this someone the same someone you’re staying with right now.” He cursed in his head, he hated that she was so good at reading situations. 

“...Maybe.”

She sighed setting her phone in her lap. “And is this someone the reason you’re getting divorced at all right now?” He shook his head with confidence this time. 

“No. Not the whole reason anyway. I’ve been wanting to leave Michael for a long time, he just...gave me that extra little push.” He WASN’T lying anyway. 

She ran her hands down her face. “Simon, baby, please don’t tell me that you’re planning on marrying this guy right after your divorce is finalized with Michael.”

“NO! No, God of course not! I don’t think I ever want to get married after all this, we’re just...dating. That’s all.” He hoped she could hear the truth in his voice and not defensiveness.

“Okay, but you’ve obviously been dating this someone long enough to feel comfortable with living with him.” He refrained from clearing his throat. She would definitely know something was up then. 

“He’s just being nice mom. He knows I don’t have anywhere else to stay and he offered his place until this thing with Michael is finalized.”

“Yes, I can understand that. However, I don’t want you to get comfortable and tangled up with someone so soon after Michael. Let me buy you a place to stay and pay the rent for a whole year, that will give you plenty of time to get back on your feet, get some money saved up and then you can pick up the rent after the year is up.”

Simon was shaking his head, partly because he was lying about what he said about Markus. He and Markus were practically living together, there was no denying it. Also, he really didn’t want his mother to do that for him. 

“Mom, you can’t keep doing this.” She blinked at him dumbly. 

“Doing what?”

“Coming to recuse me. I love and appreciate everything that you’re doing for me, but you can’t keep making things easy for me. I got myself into this mess and I’m going to work to get myself out.”

She rolled her eyes. “First of all, I’m your mother and I can do what the fuck I want. If I want to buy you the whole damn building I will. You are my son, and if see that you need help I’m going to help you and you’re going to put aside your damn pride and let me help you. You’ve always been this way, even when you were a teenager. You didn’t want us to help you with anything, not even pay for medical school. If the fucking law didn’t require for us to sign the loan with you, you would have done it all on your own. Baby, you don’t have to go through everything alone. I don’t know where you got this mindset from, but that’s why your loved ones are there, to help you. Financially if they can, and emotionally all the time.” 

Simon wished he could dispute her, but she wasn’t even wrong. He had always pushed away everything they had tried to do for him. He didn’t know why he just did. Perhaps he didn’t feel that he was worth all of the effort. It was self-deprecating, he knew. But he felt it all the same.

He didn’t say anything else as he pulled off the interstate and into downtown. He looked around for a restaurant to eat at. There were many to chose from, he tensed when she stated she wanted to eat Italian, and the only one in the area was next to the fucking CYBERLIFE TOWER. The one were he and Elijah fucking Kamski had coffee. Of course, she wanted to eat Italian! He prayed to GOD that Mr.Kasmki wasn’t in there.

“Mom, are you sure that you want to eat here?” He hoped she COULD hear the desperation in his voice. She did and raised an eyebrow unbuckling her seatbelt. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I want to eat here? Plus it’s next to Cyberlife Tower of all places, you can get a picture of by it. In fact, I heard that they do tours, I wonder if there will be one going on later.” He hoped to god not. He really didn’t want any more of a reason to run into Mr.Kamski, if he could help it. 

“Is there a reason you don’t want to eat here?”

He couldn’t lie to her, nor tell her the truth so he just shrugged and unbuckled in own seat. He paid the parking toll and walked into the restaurant. Luckily, that rude host wasn’t there and they were seated without a fuss. After ordering some drinks, things were quiet as they looked over the menu. Although he couldn’t relax, in fear that Mr.Kamski was going to walk in and see him. 

“So what’s his name.” He blinked and looked at his mom. 

“What?” 

She rolled her eyes. “His name? The guy you’re seeing?” Simon sipped his water suddenly nervous. He really didn’t want to slip up and reveal too much again. 

“Markus.” He said simply. She raised an eyebrow. 

“Markus what?” He glared at her. 

“If you’re going to do a background check I’m not going to tell you.” She glared back and pouted. Just like he thought. He wasn’t the only one that was easy to read.

“What’s he do for a living?”

He sighed. Could they please just enjoy lunch?

“He’s...an artist.”

She frowned not expecting or approving that answer. “An artist, how well does that pay?”

He frowned also. She didn’t think that it was a liable career either apparently. Despite the evidence of his very wealthy father. But she also didn’t know who his father was. “He does pretty well, actually.”He answered.

“How does he make money off art?”

Simon bit his tongue and calmed himself. “He sells a lot of his paintings and he does commissions. He’s extremely talented and he’s getting quite a name for himself. But what does it matter I’m not with him for his money.” There was a bit more of a bite to his voice than he wanted, but she just snorted.

“Don’t get all defensive honey, I was just asking.”

Oh dear lord, he remembered why he was thrilled to move away. He could only deal with his mother in spurts. 

Thankfully the waiter returned and they ordered their food, and it didn’t take long to receive it considering that there weren’t many people in the restaurant. Despite the earlier tension, they ate and spoke comfortably and just used the time to catch up. He mostly let her talk about her work so he didn’t have to talk about Michael if he didn’t have to. It was nice talking to her when he wasn’t the one under attack. After they finish eating, his mother paid for the meal, against his wishes but she kindly told him to shut up.

He wasn’t really paying attention when he walked out the door and bumped right into someone. He turned to them to apologize and then gasped in horror when he saw it was Mr.Kamski, and his HUSBAND right behind him. 

“Simon?!” Michael said, shocked to him.

Simon shook his head frantically and kept his gaze averted. He grabbed his mother’s hand. “Come on, mom.” She didn’t have time to say anything as he pulled her along. 

“Simon, the least you could fucking do is look me in the eye!” He tried to keep walking but his mother stopped. He was forced to stop pulling her along so he didn’t hurt her. Against everything he wished, she turned around to face Michael.

“Alright, I’m looking!” Simon closed his eyes, this is just what he didn’t want.

Michael’s voice at least softened. “I...I wasn’t talking to you Mrs.Daniel.”

She scoffed. “No, but you were talking to my baby AND client. As his lawyer I highly encourage you to say something against him, it would make my job so much easier in court!” 

Michael’s face turned ugly in the course of a second. “Oh, I should have figured he would have gone crying to mommy! Did he even tell you the reason we’re getting divorced in the first place?!”

Simon glanced at Mr.Kamski who’s eyebrows rose in surprise. He looked at him but refrained some saying anything.

“Oh, you mean there is a reason other than you being a piece of shit?!” Simon sighed, he could feel his anxiety rising by the second. He tugged on his mother’s arm desperately.

“Mom, please don’t. Let’s just go.” 

She shook her head. “Oh no, he obviously has a lot to say! Let his ass keep talking so I can take him for everything he has in court!”

Michael stepped up close to them, and Simon stepped slightly in front of his mom protectively. 

“You old decrepit bitch, you never did like me!”

“Michael, stop!” He yelled, he knew his mother was out of line but Michael didn’t have to talk to her like that.

“Fuck you! You think you have a right to tell me what to do after what you did?!”

Simon ran a hand over his face, why did this have to happen.

His mom pushed him back.“It’s okay honey, I can take his petty insults! Don’t speak another word to my client, Michael! If you want to say anything to him you talk through me!”

“Sure, thing! Mommy always coming to the rescue, he never was able to do anything for himself! The only thing he’s good for is warming my fucking cock!”

Simon wasn’t sure how he caught his mother’s arm in time, but she was inches from slapping Michael. “Mom! No, calm down! You can’t hit him, you’re my lawyer right now not my mom!”

“I do think this is all going a bit too far. We really should bring it down a couple of notches.” Mr.Kamski said finally stepping into the who debacle.

She glared at him. “Who the fuck are you?” He smiled at her a charming placating smile. “I own that big building across the street named Cyberlife. I’m Elijah Kamski, and I know Simon personally, and I really think that it would be in the best interest of everyone if we just went our separate ways here and now.”

“I’m not leaving until this mother fucker apologizes to my child!”

“I’m not doing shit bitch! A whore raising a whore I should have known!”

“Now, Michael that is ENOUGH of that!” Mr.Kamski voice led no room for argument and his blue eyes were frightening. “There is no need for this type of language whatsoever! Now, to spare ourselves any further embarrassment, I really think that we all should just leave! Mrs.Daniel was it? I’ll apologize on behalf of my acquaintance for his words, but your son doesn’t look like he’s fairing very well, and I think that you both should leave.”

His mother smiled at him sweetly. “You said your name was, Elijah?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Well, Elijah dear I really need you to get the fuck out of my way before I cuss you out too!” He blinked in surprise and looked at Simon in shock. He closed his eyes in defeat. He appreciated the effort, but he knew until his mother was done they weren’t going anywhere.

“Now, you Michael. If you could stop being a piece of shit for two seconds, you owe my son an apology! Then you’re going to stop contacting him completely or I’m going to have your ass arrested for harassment!”

Michael rolled his eyes. Simon really wanted to just leave. Hell... he wished Markus was here but that would have been a disaster in itself. 

“I’m not doing shit, because what I said was true! You treat him like he’s some perfect angel and he’s anything BUT! Did he even tell you who’s he’s seeing now, the got damn man I hired to paint my fucking wall!” Simon froze. Oh no, Michael wasn’t going to call him out here was he? In front of all these people. He couldn’t be that cruel. Simon crossed his arms timidly and took a deep breath. He quickly wiped away a tear when it fell from his eye. He felt a hand touch his shoulder. Mr.Kamski was looking at him with a bit of pity in his eyes. 

“Are you alright?’ He asked. He surely wasn’t, but he forced smile and nodded anyway.

“I already know he’s seeing someone else. And I’m sure this Markus is one-HUNDRED times better than you! Probably more good-looking as well, though he wouldn’t have much to compete with.” 

Michael glared at her, then at Simon before a cruel smirk formed on his face. Simon dreaded what he was going to say. He wanted to say something but it was like he was frozen in place. 

“Did he tell you this Markus is only twenty-one fucking years old?” 

Simon closed his eyes in defeat. 

“He–WHAT!” Simon refused to open his eyes. “Simon, twenty-one! Twenty-one fucking years old! What the hell Simon, that’s nearly HALF your fucking age!”

He covered his face, in part to hide his tears, and in part because he was embarrassed as hell. He could feel EVERYONE’s eyes on him. His mother wasn’t quiet so quite a few people gathered to watched the spectacle. He could FEEL their judgment. Well, Michael succeeded in making him look like the bad guy. To everyone else, he was a no good cheater, and Michael was the victim. He had every reason to be upset and spout these words at him. They didn’t know what Simon went through and put up with from this man. They had NO idea what their marriage was like before he cheated. All they knew was he cheated on his spouse so he was the bad guy. 

He couldn’t take any more of this. He just wanted to go home,

He felt a hand comfortingly placed on his arm, he knew it was Mr.Kamski. He would normally appreciate the gesture, despite who it was coming from, but right now he was done with everything. He couldn’t deal with this anymore, he turned around and began walking to his car ignoring the people watching and his mother calling his name. 

He did hear Mr. Kamski tell Michael how fucked up what he just did was, before he turned the corner and the noise of the scene faded from his ears. He made it to his car and waited for his mother to come to join him whenever she decided she was finished. He was upset, but he had enough common sense not to leave her.

He had no idea how long she was going to be, so he called the one person he wanted to hear from at the moment. 

“Hello, gorgeous.” Even the pet name couldn’t cheer him up. 

“Markus...” He was sure he sounded like a mess. 

“Simon, are you crying?! What happened?!”

Simon relayed the events just as they happened. 

“Oh baby, fuck I knew I should have come with you! That asshole’s lucky that I wasn’t there, I would have punched the words right back into his fucking mouth.” Simon smiled despite himself. “Oh no, you’re not ready to meet my mother yet, and I would prefer you not in jail.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t end up in jail, not if he hit me first. It would just be self-defense then.”

Simon wiped his cheeks and sniffed. “Have you thought about this before?”

“Possibly.”

Simon smiled. That was one thing he could always say, Markus could always make him smile no matter what. 

“Seriously, do you want me to come and meet you because you know that I will.” Simon placed a hand over his heart as it fluttered like crazy. This man had his heart wrapped around his finger. How could anyone be so amazing! He never felt like this with Michael. Michael never offered to come halfway across town because he was upset. 

“No that’s really out of the way for you, I’ll be okay...But thank you Markus and I’ll be home later.”

“Princess and I will be here.” Simon smiled. 

“I lo–Uh I mean I’ll see you later.” He quickly hung up before the other could respond and because he saw his mother walking up in the rearview mirror. 

He was freaking out on the inside. He almost told Markus that he loved him. What the hell was he thinking?! He wasn’t in love with Markus! He hasn’t known him long enough to say that he was in love with him! He cared for the young man deeply that was all. He wasn’t in love with him though. Nuh-uh. He loved things about him, he loved how he treated him, he loved how he felt when he was with him, but that was it for now. He wasn’t in love with him. Nope, he wasn’t. That was it. NOPE. 

He winced when his mother practically ripped open the door. He wouldn’t look at her, but he could feel her gaze. She got in the car and he tried to say a safe subject. 

“Um... I’ll take you to your hotel room, where are you staying?” His mother quickly placed the location in the navigator and hit the self-driving function. She then turned back to face him. He risked a glance at her. Her jaw was firm and her lips were pursed. The wrinkles around her mouth creasing deeply in a frown. Her eyes were intense and narrowed.

He might as well get this out of the way now. “Mom–“

“When were you going to tell me, Simon?! In fact, how about we just start with the fact that you left your husband for a twenty-one-year-old! What the hell is going on in your head?!”

Simon sighed. “Why are you upset about that, you don’t like Michael in the first place.”

“Yeah, I don’t. I can give two rats ass that you left him for someone else. But Simon I have been a lawyer for OVER twenty years, and I have seen this story played out with every single excuse and reason known to man. You are thirty-five-years-old, and he is twenty-one. This isn’t going to work out. This is probably some fuck boy thinking he’s about to cash in on some money ticket, and I hope you’re not dumb enough to fall for it!”

Simon didn’t want to hear her. He didn’t care that she was right about Michael, he should have seen the warning signs about Michael himself. But he KNEW she was wrong about Markus. She didn’t know him as he did. She didn’t know anything about him! Markus was NOTHING like she said.

“You’re wrong about him mom! He’s not like that! He–“

“Oh please. He’s twenty-one the boy doesn’t know timbuck from fucking two! I have seen this story many times from people your age and older Simon. They’re in an unhappy marriage, they meet some young hot thing that gives them attention and makes them feel special, they quickly fall in love and want to be with this person, and then it falls apart and they’re right back at square one! Stuck in an unhappy relationship!”

Simon held back tears, he refused to cry anymore. “What makes you think that that’s going to be me! You don’t even know him, mom, if you just give him a chance–

“Absolutely not, Simon! You need to end this right now! I’m NOT going to see you make the same mistake that you made with Michael!”

“This isn’t a mistake! I feel something for Markus, I have never felt before! He treats me like I’m the most precious thing in his life, I have NEVER felt that way from Michael or anyone! He makes me happy, why can’t I–“

“I have heard this before! Do you know how many divorce cases I’ve done! Do you know how many 40, 50, hell even 60-year-old men and women I have seen leave their husbands and wives for someone they thought they would do better with?! They–“

Simon sighed exasperatedly. “I’m not them mom! What I have with Markus isn’t their relationship! It’s mine! What makes you so sure that it’s not going to work, you haven’t even met him yet! I haven’t known him that long true, but it’s not like I’m trying to marry him. I just want to see where our relationship goes! Is that too much to ask?!”

His mother ran a hand down the front of her face. “I don’t want to see you make the same mistake with Michael, you weren’t thinking clearly then and you’re not thinking clearly now. What you’re feeling honey is an attraction and that’s it. It feels great in the beginning, wonderful even. I know the sex is pretty great! But once that attraction wears off, and you see the person underneath, you’re going to see how this isn’t going to work.”

“You don’t know if that’s going to happen to us!”

“It happened with Michael didn’t it?!”

“That’s different!”

“No, it’s not, Simon! I knew you an Michael weren’t good for each other, I told you constantly that he was a piece of shit, you never listened and you’re not listening to me now! And this boy’s his age–“

“See! There you go again, you’re stuck on his age. Just because he’s young doesn’t mean that he’s like every single fucking twenty-year-old out there! You haven’t even met him, you’re just letting how young he is, and how our relationship came to be form an image of him in your head! Markus is–“

“Simon if you don’t listen to me now, you are going to get your heart broken!”

His heart was already broken, and Markus was the one healing it. “You’re not listening to me! If you just listen--”

“You know what fuck it! It looks like you’re just going to have to learn like you had to learn with Michael, but when this shit blows up in your face don’t come crying to me.” With that she got out of the car– he hadn’t even realized that they parked--opened the back door grabbed her luggage and stormed off into her hotel. 

Simon stared after her. He had no idea what was happening now. He didn’t know if he still had a lawyer or even if his mother wanted to speak with him anymore. He wiped his face and took a few deep breaths. He felt physically tired and ill. His stomach was swimming in knots and he felt light-headed. 

He pressed in his new home location and set the car to drive. He could barely recall the ride over. He knew that there was some traffic, but other than that nothing. He didn’t remember pulling up to the building or getting out of the car. He didn’t even remember pressing in the code to his door or the younger man's greetings. He just remembered rushing to the bathroom and emptying his stomach into the toilet. He felt hands on his body and forehead but he heard no voices.

He felt the tears. Raw and hot rolling down his cheeks. 

He remembered hearing his sobs and practically collapsing to the floor. The cries shaking his body. He remembered arms holding him, but nothing else. 

He just cried.

*** 

Tuesday, September 10th, 2038

Simon didn’t even register falling asleep. He hoped that Markus would be next to him but to his surprise, he wasn’t. He didn’t like that at ALL. Luckily he heard him in the kitchen. He normally wouldn’t mind if Markus was not in bed with him all the time, as he was MOST of the time, but he was feeling really clingy right now and wanted to be near him. 

It struck him as odd that he didn’t mind Markus wasn’t always next to him when he awoke. He supposed that it was because he did wake up next to him so often that he didn’t mind when he was gone. Michael was gone ALL the time. Sometimes he didn’t come to bed at all, falling asleep on the couch from working on his laptop. It was just nice to have the option. Markus walked back into the room, he for once wasn’t shirtless and he had on pants. 

‘Simon, you’re awake. I was going to wake you up, it’s getting pretty late.” 

Simon blinked and sat up. “What time is it.” 

“It’s 12:30 in the afternoon.” Simon ran a hand over his face. That was really late for him to wake up, he just felt so tired.

Markus handed him one of the mugs in his hands. He smiled. It was his favorite tea. Well, it was more milk than tea, but at least Markus knew that he liked that much milk in his tea. “Thank you, Markus.” He said taking a sip. Markus sat down and placed a hand on the back of his neck and pulled him close.

“You’re welcome. You really scared me yesterday, I’ve seen you get stressed but not to the point of vomiting and breaking down like that.” Markus’s voice was shaking slightly as he spoke. Simon felt really bad, he didn’t mean to worry the man so much. 

He honestly hadn’t had a breakdown like that since medical school. He had gotten so stressed during those time that he had gotten physically sick. It had got pretty bad, to the point that he almost didn’t finish medical school. It hadn’t happened to him in years though, however, he really wasn’t surprised that it was happening again given what was going on. He told Markus as much. 

Markus’s lips formed into an unhappy frown. “I don’t want you to end up like that at all. Simon, I’m going to come with you from now on whenever you have to deal with him.”

Simon shook his head. “No, Markus. You don’t have to do that. I don’t want you to have to deal with–“

“Simon, you’re going through all of this because of me, the least I can do is be there for you through it all. Also, I want that son of a bitch to see what he took for granted and what’s he’s losing and I wish he would say something because I own him and ass-kicking.” Simon smiled and shook his head. 

“It’s not Michael I’m worried about, it’s my mother. She’s already formed an opinion of you and there’s no changing her mind when she’s like this.” 

Markus shrugged. “Well, I can’t change her mind if I don’t meet her. Trust me, I’ve dealt with my fair share of difficult people. I think I can handle your mom.” Simon raised a disbelieving eyebrow. He really didn’t know what he was getting into. 

“Okay. It’s not that I won't appreciate you being there, but you don’t realize what you’re offering to go through.” Markus leaned forward and kissed his forehead. 

“I’ll go through anything for you.” Simon closed his eyes and held back the burning in his eyes. God, he was such a cry-baby. What did he do in his life to deserve someone like Markus? 

He didn’t care what his mother said. She was right about a lot of things, but she was wrong about Markus. He held back the tears, he had enough crying. He wasn’t going to do it from this moment forward. He was done with hurting from Michael’s behavior. He was done crying from his hurtful words. If Michael was going to act like a petty and cruel pissy baby, then he was free to do so, but he wasn’t going to get another reaction from him. 

He didn’t even know why he cared so much in the first place. He didn’t need to appease Michael anymore. The only person he had to appease was himself. He had relied on other people for far too long, it was time for him to put his big boy undies on and handle this situation like an adult. 

And the first thing he needed to do was contact his mother and see if she was still representing him. He let out a happy gasp when he heard the familiar pitter-patter of little paws. “Princess!” He reached out to her and she ran to him. He picked her up and held her close. 

“Oh, my sweet girl! You scared me! Did the vet say if she was going to be alright, she doesn’t need anything does she?” Markus nodded and patted her fur. “Yeah. He said he wasn’t even sure if the little stinker ate any of my paint. She didn’t throw up or anything. They kept her just in case, but they ran some more test and she’s fine.”

“Good. I don’t what’s I’d do if anything happened to her. She was the only good thing to come out of my relationship with Michael.” He sighed and sat her in his lap. He reached for his phone and was surprised to find no new messages from Michael. He wondered why. 

But that wasn’t his concern. He dialed his mother’s number. He should have been nervous, but things couldn’t possibly get any worse than yesterday. Or, perhaps Markus’s very presence was soothing him. At first, he didn’t think that she was going to pick up.

“Simon, honey I was just about to call you. I’m so sorry! I didn’t handle yesterday as well as I could have” 

Simon smiled. “It’s okay, mom. I didn’t either, by the way, you’re on speaker.” His mother was silent. 

“I’m assuming that he’s there?”

“If you mean Markus, yes.” His mother sighed. 

“Hello...Markus. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Hello, Mrs.Daniel, I’ve heard a lot about you as well.” Things grew awkward really fast. Simon cleared his throat. 

“Um, Mom, I was calling to see if you were still going to represent me–“

“Of course I am Simon! Just because I was mad doesn’t mean I’m going to leave you high and dry. What is with you boy?!” 

Simon sighed. “You just left really angry and what you said–“ 

“I WAS angry Simon, and you know how I am in an argument. I didn’t mean what I said. Speaking of representing you, did you receive any messages from Michael this morning.” 

He raised an eyebrow. “No, I didn’t oddly.” 

“Good, I haven’t lost my intimidation skills. He shouldn’t bother you anymore. However, I managed to talk him into meeting us with his lawyer, to discuss terms of divorce instead of just going to court.” 

Simon blinked. “How did you manage that?’

“Well, that Mr.Kamski fellow had something to do with it I think. I didn’t think Michael was going to go for it but he pulled him to the side and after some angry words shared between the two of them he agreed, though he didn’t look happy. We’re going to meet with him tomorrow if that’s okay?” Simon looked to Markus to see if it was good for him. He nodded.

“Yeah, that’s fine...Markus is going to come along.” He didn’t faze it as a question, he wasn’t going to budge on his opinion of Markus, and she had to see that. 

“Alright... that’s not against the law. Although, Michael might be more resistant with him there.” 

Simon shrugged gently rubbing Princess’ head. “He’s going to be resistant no matter what, Markus being there won’t make any difference.” His mother sighed. “Alright, I have to go prepare for this and call some people back. If I don’t talk to you later, I’ll text you the address to meet me at. Markus...I look forward to meeting you I guess.”

“I look forward to meeting you Mrs.Daniel.” 

“Bye, mom.” With that, he hung up. Markus frowned and shrugged. “She doesn’t seem so bad, you’re overreacting.” 

Simon laughed. “She was playing nice. You haven’t met her yet, just give it time.”

Markus pecked him on the lips and then suddenly lit up with an idea. “Oh, watch this.” He said getting up. He went rummaging around in his area, before returning with something behind his back. 

“Watch. Hey Princess.” She lifted her head her tail wagging lightly staring at him. He smiled and pulled out the tiny stuff animal he had won for him at the fair. Simon had forgotten about it. Markus bent over and placed it in front of Princess. What surprised him is how Princess jumped off his lap and started barking at the stuffed animal hoping back and forth. Simon laughed as she growled in the cutest fashion and lunged at the stuffed animal. Markus snatched it out the way just in time. 

“You should have seen her yesterday. She was ready to have a full battle. It was hilarious.” Simon smiled as he watched Markus play with Princess a smile on his face every time Princess lunged at him. 

Simon was completely sure. 

His mother was right about a lot of things...

But she was wrong about Markus.

***

Wednesday, September 11th, 2038

Simon had tried to relax the rest of the day before, and on some part, he had managed. Markus actually thought it would be fun if he tried to paint with him. Simon hadn’t been sure, he really didn’t have an artistic bone in his body. Markus insisted, telling him it would be a nice distraction, so he agreed. 

Markus had removed the covered canvas that he was working on. It was apart of whatever series he was working on, so he wouldn’t allow him to see it. He normally painted on it a few hours after Simon decided to go to bed. He placed a new canvas on the easel and handed Simon some paints, he then set himself on the floor with his own canvas and paint. 

Simon was at a loss for what to do, he had never painted anything in his entire life. He really didn’t want to waste Markus’s things, he knew that canvas and paint weren’t cheap these days, not that it ever was now that he thought about it. After staring at the canvas for a few seconds, he asked Markus for some help. Markus just told him to close his eyes and imagine something he had never seen before, or something that he felt and just let his brush flow against the canvas. 

Simon couldn’t help but roll his eyes, that was easy to say when you were able to produce something pretty at the end. But...this wasn’t about him trying to make something pretty. He doubted that anyone would even see this. This was just about him trying to relax and forget all his worries, so he channeled the painting master of the world. Bob Ross. He loved watching his videos when he was younger and wanted to relax. He was going to paint some happy little trees and mountains. Or try to at least. 

It was admittedly nice. He was no artist, but he didn’t think that he was doing too bad. He decided to go with a landscape. That seemed very forgiving if he made some mistakes. Then he remembered Bob Ross’s most iconic quote. “There are no mistakes, only happy accidents.” It was ironic how much that applied to his life right now. His mother often told him that he had made a mistake marrying Michael. Perhaps he shouldn’t have married Michael, but it wasn’t a mistake. At least he didn’t think so anymore. Every situation you are put in life rather good or bad is made to teach you something. If he didn’t have to put up with Michael’s verbal abuse, he wouldn’t have grown as strong as he did. Sure he cries every now and then, but he didn’t think that it was showing weakness. His relationship with Michael, despite all its downfalls, had caused him to grow stronger.

Second, if he hadn’t been in a relationship with Michael, he more than likely would have never met Markus. That was a horrible way to look at it, but it was true. He only met the young man through Michael. Coinciding with that, he never would have learned to appreciate Markus and how he was if it wasn’t for Michael. 

He married Michael, it went bad and he learned from it. In the end, he supposed that was all that he could do. He knew that he would never allow himself to be treated like that again. Even if it was from Markus. He had learned from his past mistakes and he would keep these life lessons and continue learning from them. He would explore what he had with Markus, but he would never allow himself to be placed in the situation that he had been in with Michael. 

In the end, his painting didn’t turn out too bad. It was a pretty decent landscape...you know if a third grader was the one to make it. But Markus thought it was pretty good for his first time painting and was happy that he decided to give it a try. Simon thought it would be better to keep painting to Markus.

Although he was curious as to what Markus had painted. He was appalled and flattered to see that Markus had sat on the floor because it gave him the perfect view of his backside which he decided to paint. Simon was one part offended but mostly flattered. He made Markus swear not to show anyone that painting. The conversation had somehow resulted in them having a fight with paint, and having sex in the shower. He was even sure how each action came to be. 

Overall, it had been a relaxing and fun day, but his stress came back at full force the moment that he woke up the next morning with a text of the address he was supposed to meet his mother at. Markus luckily gave him all the support he could and calmed him down quite a bit. After they both dressed and quickly ate something, they made sure that Princess was gated in the kitchen where she couldn’t get into anything and they both headed out.

Simon was stressed the whole ride and not even Markus rubbing his arm could help him. He wasn’t even stressed about meeting Michael. It was Michael and Markus seeing each other that worried him. He trusted that Markus wouldn’t try anything, but he couldn’t say the same thing for Michael. His mother meeting Markus worried him as well. Markus was extremely well mannered but he had a feeling that his mother wasn’t going to be welcoming, and she could be really rude with flippant responses when she met someone she didn’t like. However, he was certain that Markus could get his mother to see that he wasn’t a bad person. Or at least, get his mother to loosen up some. She was always good at reading people after all.

“Simon, It’s going to be alright,” Markus said suddenly. 

“But Michael— and then there’s my mom–“

“It’s okay Simon. You haven’t spent enough time with my family to know what they’re like. I can handle some pretty difficult people.” Simon forced a small smile on his face. Then he registered what Markus said. 

Simon hadn’t met any of his family now that he thought about it. He had met Carl Manfred BRIEFLY, and he didn’t meet his brother but he had seen him. Leo, he recalled Markus calling him. He met Elijah and his fiancé, and his fiance’s father, but they didn’t know that he was dating--well, cheating with at the time-- Markus.

He knew that Markus hadn’t told his family of him yet, he wondered when he would. Before or after he was divorced. Would he wait a few months after the whole divorce finalization? What would he say? He couldn’t tell them that they had gotten together while he was still married. Oh god, some of them already KNEW that he was married. How on earth would they be able to explain that away, they would easily be able to put two and two together!

“Simon, whatever you’re thinking about, stop thinking about it.”

Simon blinked. How on earth did Markus always know? It was like he could read his mind. He was just about to ask when the car pulled to a stop in front a what looked like a law firm. His heart started beating fast the moment that he saw his mother waiting outside on the phone and smoking a cigarette. He hated that she was still smoking, but he couldn’t bring himself to think about it right now.

“Is that her? I can see where you get your looks from Simon.” Simon rolled his eyes and pushed at Markus’s shoulder. 

“Don’t tell me my mom is hot!” 

Markus smiled. “I didn’t say that she was hot! I just said that your gene pool did you well.”

“That sounds no better!”

“Well, I don’t know how else to say it then! Simon your mom is pretty, and you are pretty as well. Is that better?” Simon blushed despite himself. 

He unbuckled his seatbelt hastily. “You’re a dork.”

Markus snorted, unbuckling his own seatbelt. “So you have told me.” 

Simon shook his head, he had to get himself together. He had to come across as confident, or his mother would never learn to accept his choices. 

“Mom.” He said after they walked up to her. She wasn’t paying attention when they walked up. She turned around to look at him and then did a double take at Markus. 

“Damn! Okay, honey, I see and I don’t blame you!” Simon covered his face in embarrassment. Markus looked away but he had a smile on his face.

Markus did look pretty good today he had to admit. Not that he didn’t look good every day. He was dress casually in dark-colored clothes as usual, but he always did wear form-fitting clothes so his t-shirt fit nice and snug against his body without being too tight. His pants always fit him snugly. The only thing that changed about his attire, was the fact that it was colder out now so he was wearing a jacket, and it didn’t look too bad on him if he did say so himself. 

“Hello, Mrs. Daniel. It’s nice to finally meet you in person.” He held out his hand, and Simon held his breath as his mother stared at it for no less than five seconds before shaking it. 

“It’s nice to meet you in person too. You’re...honestly not what I expected.” Simon blinked. Was that a good thing? His mother was looking him up and down, she was obviously trying to get a read on his character. Either that or she was checking him out. He preferred the first option, the second option was creepy. 

Suddenly his mother got a very devious smirk on her face. “Well, I’m very curious to see how Michael is going to react to this. I have to ask you though Markus, as tempting as it’s going to be, not to cause any trouble. Michael will say some foul stuff to get a reaction out of us, and the need to protect this precious pumpkin will be strong, “ Simon was sure that his face was bright red, and Markus smiled at him.“But we can’t fall for it. If you don’t think you can take his petty insults then don’t come inside.”

Markus nodded. “I’m sure the urge will be strong, but I think I’ll be good.”

“Alright, let’s go. The fucker is already inside waiting with his bull-shit lawyer. Let’s go see what he has to say.” Simon was so far pleased with how this interaction went. He was fully expecting something else. While he was sure that his mother was showing off her good side, he was grateful for it none the less.

He was pleasantly surprised when Markus reached for his hand and held it. It felt really good to be able to hold it in public and not be afraid that they were going to get caught. Sure they couldn’t be official yet, but after today they would be one step closer.

He squeezed Markus’s hand in reassurance. He discretely took a deep breath to calm himself while his mom knocked on the door which he guessed belonged to Michael’s lawyer. After waiting what was considered an average amount of time, they were told to come in. His mother walked into the room as confident as ever, and Simon tried to match her lead.

His resolve crumbled a small bit when he saw Michael. Against his will he coward behind Markus slightly. Something which he was sure was noticed. The office... looked like a lawyers office. Michael’s lawyer obviously did well, because the office was nicely decorated. It almost rivaled what he remembered of his mother’s. 

There was a table that could fit probably up to eight people, Michael was sitting at it with who he assumed was his lawyer. He honestly didn’t look too well. He definitely had been drinking, Simon couldn’t tell however if it was from the previous night or this morning. Either way, he looked like shit. He hadn’t been sleeping, he could tell from the bags under his eyes. Nor had he been taking care of himself. His normally trimmed stubble was stepping into the ranks of a beard, and his normally styled hair was disheveled and messy.

Simon almost didn’t want to look at him. He was obviously taking this hard and it made Simon feel so guilty. Markus squeezed his hands, and Simon was shaken out of his daze. He had nothing to feel sorry about. Sure he wished that it hadn’t come to this, but he and Michael were not good for each other. If the circumstances with Markus was what needed to happen for him to realize it and get himself out of that situation then he couldn’t feel guilty about it. Not now. It was too late, and now that he was looking at Michael, he knew that he made the right choice. 

Michael did not at ALL look happy to see Markus there and he let that be known and loudly. “Oh, hell fucking no! I do not want HIM in here!” He yelled at his lawyer. “Make him leave!” Simon held onto Markus tighter. Markus was frowning, he glared at Michael and didn’t budge. 

“He’s not going anywhere Michael, he’s here in support of Simon and there’s nothing against the law that says that he can’t be in here.” His mother said, her lips were pursed into a frown as though daring his lawyer to object. 

His lawyer sighed. “Sadly she’s right Michael. He’s not causing a disturbance so I can’t force him to leave. Simon here can bring whoever he wishes to something like this if they’re offering moral support. 

Michael glared at Markus, and Simon was nervous because he knew that he was about to say something negative. “You have some fucking nerve showing your face here, I offer you a fucking job, let you into my home and you decide to fuck my husband!” Michael smirked. “What would your father say?”

Simon looked at Markus for his reaction. This was going to tell how Markus going to handle Michael. To his surprise, Markus just smiled and pulled him close wrapping an arm around his waist.

“He said he thinks he’s lovely, and he hopes that we make each other happy. And trust me we make each other VERY happy.” Markus’s tone was suggestive and unmistakable. Simon was a little embarrassed, but he had to give it to Markus at how he handled the situation. Even his mother cracked a smile. But that also made him wonder if he was telling the truth, as far as he knew Markus hadn’t told his father about them...at least he didn’t think he had. 

Michael looked beyond pissed off, and luckily his mother intervened. “Let’s get this show on the road. Michael, you will not address my client and his... friend. To keep this civil you will only speak to them through me. The same will go for my client and your lawyer. Are we agreed on the terms?” She said any trace of his mother gone and the only thing that remained was his lawyer. Michael’s lawyer who introduced himself as James Manchester agreed and they all sat down. Simon sat next to his mother, he really couldn’t trust that she wouldn’t try to secretly stab Markus with a pen or something. He wasn’t exaggerating, she had done that to the guy he was dating before Michael. Only it was at dinner and with a fork. 

“Okay,” His mother said pulling a tablet out of her purse. “So first these are the files that you both need to sign to show that you both are willingly divorcing. I’ve already emailed these to you to look over you should have read them, “She said speaking to Michael’s Lawyer. “Now I need you both to sign it. Thanks to today’s technology it will be immediately filed and processed.” 

She handed the tablet over to him first. He signed it with his fingerprint. You had to love today’s technology. It made things so simple. After he finished swiping through all the documents and signing them, his mother handed the tablet over to Michael.

At first, the man didn’t budge he just glared at the tablet and then at his mother and him before his lawyer intervened. “Michael, we discussed this. Please sign the documents.” Michael glared at him before he shot a particularly nasty one at Simon before snatching the tablet out of his mother’s hands and went about signing the documents. After he was finished he harshly pushed the tablet back across the table. His mother picked it up calmly and placed it back in front of her.

“Good. It should be fully processed by the end of the day. Since neither of you have any children, and we’ve skipped all the nastiness of going to court we can get straight into negotiations. Now the both of you got married really young and neither of you really had a career so neither of you signed a pre-nub. So we should discuss how everything you own will be separated between the both of you.” Simon was honestly willing to give him whatever he wanted and h was halfway tempted to as long as he could be done with this as soon as possible. But he knew that wasn’t smart. His mother was right, he did deserve something for putting up with Michael all these years. He didn’t want a lot, but he deserved something. 

“He’s not getting shit, I fucking own everything! From the house to even that fucking car which now that I think about it, I want back.’ Simon held back a sigh. Here they go. 

He looked to Michael’s lawyer with as straight of a face as he could. He couldn’t let Michael have his car, he needed some way to get around. “The car he bought for me as a birthday gift, there isn’t any money owed on it and the lease is in my name.” 

“If the lease is in his name Michael, you can’t ask for it back. According to the law even if you bought it if the lease is in Simon’s name it’s his property.” His lawyer explained. 

“Bullshit, I pay the fucking insurance on it!” 

Simon sighed. “I’ll take over the insurance for it. Or get my own, but I want to keep my car.” He said. Michael’s lawyer sighed and looked at Michael with a soft look.

“My hands are tied with this one Michael, legally there’s not much to stand on. He has to keep the car.” Michael rolled his eyes but otherwise said nothing. 

His mother smiled and typed into her tablet. “Okay, so then there’s the matter of the house.” 

“He can have the house,” Simon said. He never really liked the house anyway, and he very much preferred the coziness of Markus’s place. 

“Let’s not be too hasty Simon–“ His mother said. 

“Hell no, he not getting the house. He doesn’t pay shit on it.” Michael snarled.

Simon refrained from rolling his eyes. He didn’t pay anything because he wasn’t working, but he would have. “It’s okay mom, I never really wanted the house in the first place, he can have it.”

Michael turned his attention to him sharply. “You never wanted it! I didn’t hear you fucking complaining when I bought it!” 

Simon glared at him and he ignored his mother and Michael’s lawyer telling Michael to talk to them and not him. “You didn’t hear me because your head was so far up your own ass to pay attention to what I had to say!” 

That set Michael on the warpath and he ignored everything his lawyer was telling him. “Well, I’m listening now. You have such a big fucking mouth all of a sudden! Tell me everything that you say I never paid attention to, I’m all fucking ears!”

Simon rolled his eyes. “I don’t have to tell you anything, Michael. Your opinion doesn’t matter to me anymore! Now can you stop acting like a pissy child so we can get this done, I frankly don’t want to be here all day!”

“Yes! I say that is quite enough!” His mother said sternly, although she looked incredibly proud of Simon. 

“You ungrateful little–“

“Michael, enough! I don’t know if you want a lawsuit on your hands, but you’re not making yourself look good if you do!” Michael’s lawyer shouted. Michael snarled and sat back in his seat crossing his arms. 

After a brief moment of silence, his mother continued. “Alright, now Simon said that you can have the house. Now let's get the next biggest thing out the way, alimony.” The mention of the word set Michael right back on the warpath. 

“Oh, he’s not getting a fucking CENT of my money. The little bitch sits around on his ass all day and sleeps with someone else in MY house and expect me to pay him for it! Hell no!” 

Simon couldn’t bring himself to get offended by his vulgar words regarding him, although Markus who has stayed quiet this whole meeting did frown at the ‘B’ word.

“Now Michael there is no need for name calling. You and Simon have been married for twenty years and for at least 13 of those years he didn’t work at your request. So obviously he has no source of income. You are obligated to pay him something until he can at least get back on his feet.”

“Absolutely. Not.” From the look of him, Simon could tell that he wasn’t going to budge on this. Or, it was going to take a lot more convincing. His lawyer tried to make him see reason. 

“Michael, you are the primary income of your household, a judge is not going to rule in your favor.” 

“He fucking cheated on me, I don’t see him ruling in his favor either!” Michael yelled. Simon frowned because that was very true. 

“I think he’ll be very understanding of Simon’s reasons for doing so and his reasons for wanting a divorce once he reads the nasty text messages you sent him or listens to the voicemails that you left him.” His mother countered.

Michael paused. He closed his eyes and cursed. That let Simon know that he was more than likely drunk when he sent those. 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Now sit there like a good boy and let’s discuss how much you’ll be giving him. I think that thirty percent of your monthly income is fair.” Michael slammed his hand down on the table. 

“Fuck you if you think that that’s fair! I’m not giving this cheating slut thirty percent!” Even Simon thought that was a little much–even if he didn’t like being called a slut-- he knew his mother was trying to be petty right now, and he needed to reign her in some. 

“Mom, I don’t need that much.” 

"Hush, Simon!”

“Mom, no! Be reasonable...come on.” His mother turned and glared at him, but she rolled her eyes and sighed. 

“Twenty-five percent is as fair as it’ll get for the amount of money that you make Michael.” 

Michael turned to his lawyer in anger. “What the fuck am I paying you for, say something!”

His lawyer shrugged. “She’s right Michael. You gross a lot of income monthly, twenty-five percent is actually low compared to what he could take you for if this went to court. You have to pay him enough to live comfortably in the lifestyle that you provided for him. In my professional opinion, I’d say take what they are offering you.”

Michael ran a hand down his face. “This is bull-shit!”

His mother smiled condescendingly. “Well, you know what they say–“

“Mom.” Simon cut her off before she could say anything to make the matter worse.

“How fucking long do I have to pay this for."

His lawyer shrugged. “That can be decided by you two or by the court.”

Michel glared at him. “Six fucking months! That’s it!”

His mother laughed at him. “You’re out of your mind if you think that’s you’re just going to do just six months. I could get you for ten years but I’m looking at five.” 

“I am not–“

“One year.” Simon intervened. His mother glared at him. 

“Simon–“ 

“One year mom. That’s all. Please.” His mother really wanted to say something, but she had to remember that she was his lawyer and begrudgingly agreed. 

“Fine. ONE year.” 

Simon was grateful. He understood what his mother was trying to do, but he really didn’t want to be attached to Michael for any longer than he had to. It took a few hours but eventually, they had it all sorted it. Simon often had to reign his mother in, often times he just let her loose, especially when Michael out of spite tried to take Princess. In the end, they had things separated nicely to were they can easily go their separate ways. Once everything was officially done they both looked over the list of what they agreed on a signed the document agreeing that they both read it and agreed to its terms. 

Simon despite himself got a little choked up reading it. He couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. Make no mistake he wasn’t upset that he was leaving Michael, but he was closing a chapter to a part of his life that gave him mostly heart-ache and pain, and he was happy for it. 

Markus’s hand never left him, and he squeezed it in comfort. Soon they would be able to officially claim each other as a couple without anything or one holding them back. Once it was declared they were done, he, his mother and Markus left the lawyer’s office. 

His mother sighed, stuffing her tablet back in her purse while they walked “Simon, honey I wish that you weren’t so nice. I could have gotten that asshole for a whole lot more.” 

Simon looked at his mother softly. “I have no doubt that you could have Mom, but I just want to be done with this and I didn’t want to give Michael any reason to go to court.”

His mother rolled her eyes. “I would have walked all over him in court honey, you shouldn’t have worried about that.”

“Mom... I just want to be done...with all of this.”

His mother shrugged. “Alright.” Simon froze when she suddenly shifted her gaze to Markus. 

“You surprised me. I honestly expected you to be trouble, but you didn’t do anything. Not even when Michael was insulting the both of you.” 

Markus gave her a small smile. “Unlike him, I know how to control myself.” His mother raised an eyebrow. 

“Yes. I can see that... You’re honestly not what I expected of you young man.” His mother crossed her arms. “I can’t say that I’m particularly thrilled about your relationship, but, I... have to stop being such a mother hen and let Simon make his own decisions. Rather I think they’re bad for him or not. I also don’t know the future, I may be wrong about you two, but... I guess you both are just going to have to show me if I am.” Simon picked his mother up into a hug. He always forgot just how small she was, her fiery personality made her seem so much bigger. He was happy because that was the closest to approval as he was going to get from her. She obviously was still wary about Markus, but she must have liked what she saw.

Markus smiled at her and his response. Simon put his mother down and he walked her to her cab.

“So how long should the finalizing process take?’ 

“Well, thanks to today’s technology we skipped all the extra bits that make things take longer, but the final case is still going to have to be looked over by a judge. In Michigan, it takes about sixty days.” Simon supposed that he could take that. It seemed like a LONG time away, but it was actually really short if he thought about. 

“I don’t have to contact Michael anymore do I?” He asked hesitantly. 

“Nope. Everything was taken care of here. He has no reason to contact you any more other than to be an asshole, and if he does that you’re more than willing to get a restraining order against him.” He stepped in front of her. 

“So that’s really it.” His mother smiled and nodded. “Back in my day, the process was a lot longer, and I’m sure that it could have been if Michael decided not to co-operate. But he did, so things went smoothly. In sixty days honey you’re your own person... well sort of.” Markus wrapped an arm around his waist 

“He still is, dating me doesn’t change that.” His mother looked at Markus surprised. 

“I think, I’m going to like you...I think. Don’t quote me on that later.” Markus laughed. 

“Well, I barely slept last night, and I’m pooped. I was up all night preparing things for today, I’m going back to my hotel room to sleep.” 

“How much longer are you going to be here?” Simon asked. 

“The rest of the week at least, but I still have work at home to do. And if Michael’s lawyer needs anything, he knows how to contact me. I took so much extra time because I hoped to have a couple days to spend with you.”

“Of course, mom. And... thank you for everything.”

She pinched his cheeks. “Nobody fucks with my baby and gets away with it. You make note of that Markus!”

Markus smiled. “I heard you loud and clear, you have nothing to worry about from me.” She looked Markus up and down. 

“Mhm-hm. Alright, I’m gone. I’ll call you tomorrow baby.” She kissed him on the cheek and stepped into her cab with a small wave she drove off. Simon and Markus went and got in his car, he had to immediately start looking for insurance on it, but he’d worry about that later.

He looked at the time, It was still pretty early in the day only 1:30 in the afternoon. He looked to Markus. “So what do you want to do now?” He asked. 

Markus suddenly looked very nervous. “Well...since I just met your mom...do you... want to meet my dad?” Simon felt like his heart had stopped. 

He blinked dumbly. “Really?” 

“Yeah, I...kinda had to tell my dad about you and now he’s been bugging me about when he gets to meet you.”

Simon furrowed his brows in confusion trying to figure out how he ‘accidently’ told his father about them. Markus read the look on his face. 

“It was the day that I spending time with him and my brother. Leo stole my phone and began reading it out loud what I was texting before I could get it back from him.” Simon blushed hotly. Markus had been texting some pretty nasty stuff to him. 

“Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, and yes I was highly embarrassed. Anyway, I was forced to tell him about you. I kept out a lot of stuff obviously, but... he really wants to meet you. I figured since we’re out...”

Simon looked himself over. “I don’t think that I’m dressed to meet him, I mean– I’m sure I look like a horrid stressed mess–“ 

Markus grabbed his hand to keep him from fussing with his hair. “You look beautiful Simon, you always do.” Simon against his will blushed and Markus laughed in response. He leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “You’re so fucking cute.” Simon blushed harder, and his gaze caught someone watching them out the window. He sucked in a breath when he saw that it was Michael. He stared at them with an unreadable look in his eyes that gave Simon the chills, before he shook his head and walked away. Markus looked behind him just as he left. 

“Was that–“ 

Simon nodded. “Yeah. L-let’s go. I think it’s only fair since you met my mom for me to meet your dad. Your other one anyway.” Markus raised an eyebrow in question before he realized who he was talking about. 

“It sounds weird hearing Elijah being called my dad, and your mother was nowhere near as bad as you were making her out to be,” Markus said inputting his fathers address into the navigator. 

“He certainly acts likes your dad, and you saw her on a really good day. If you stick around you’ll see her bad side sooner or later.” 

“Well, I don’t plan on going anywhere.” Simon’s heart fluttered at the response. He was grateful that he didn’t have to feel bad about it. He was technically free to date whoever he wished now, the papers just hadn't finalize it yet. 

“...neither do I.” He might as well be honest. His face was burning and grew even hotter when he saw the color of Markus’s cheeks as well. 

“Well, I guess you’re stuck with me then. How unfortunate for you.” Markus mumbled. 

“I don’t know what’s sadder, me being stuck with you or you being stuck with me.” He replied. 

‘I guess we’re stuck with each other.” 

“I guess.” 

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

Even though they were teasing each other, Simon’s heart couldn’t help but soar. And it did leaps when Markus intertwined their hands together.

***

Simon was taken aback by the size of his father’s house. It wasn’t often that you saw houses built like this anymore. His previous one was too modern on the outside to be considered impressive to him. This house was cozy and almost gave Simon Victorian vibes. A path led from the sidewalk to the house, it was mostly covered in orange and red fallen leaves, as autumn began to take over the trees. He wondered what the path looked like during the spring when the flowers were blooming and colorful. It had to be beautiful. 

Simon followed Markus up to the large door of the house. Simon thought that he was going to ring the doorbell, but after not even a moment of his standing there the door chimed and unlocked opening wide. A pleasant robotic voice filled the air. 

“Welcome home, Markus.”

Markus smiled and pulled him inside. The front area was decorated in a funky fashion with patterns that should have clashed but oddly didn’t. It almost made Simon giggle. He very much liked the painting that was hanging on the wall. 

They were then greeted by an average looking young man with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a white uniform that was similar to what nurse wore. “Markus, hello. Carl didn’t tell me that you were visiting with a guest, I would have prepared you both something.” 

Markus smiled. “He doesn’t know. Simon this is Andrew, he’s my father caretaker.” Andrew smiled and shook his hand. The young man held onto his hand a little longer than necessary and flashed him a dazzling smile. 

“It’s very nice to meet you.” Simon gave him a smile back in return although it was slightly awkward. Markus frowned slightly at the interaction, he stepped a little closer to Simon. 

“So where’s my dad?” He asked. Andrew stepped back a respectable distance, seeming to take the hint...at least Simon hoped he did. 

“Where he always is. The studio.” 

“Thanks,” Markus said. Curtly he grabbed Simon’s hands and pulled him along. Simon didn’t even have time to say anything to Markus before he was taken aback by the glorious living room.

“Markus, there is a giraffe in his living room! Oh my god, why does he have a giraffe in his living room?!” Simon didn’t know what he really wanted to feel about that. He was so overwhelmed. This place was beautiful. Sure it was lavishly decorated, but each one of these items seemed like they were hand-picked with care. He really got personality from the way the place was decorated. 

“He’s had that since I was small, I’m not really sure why he has it. You can ask him if you like.” Simon smiled. He didn’t think he would, but he was curious. He let Markus pull him along while he continued looking over the place. He was instantly floored by the studio. It was in part a large artistic mess, but it seemed almost like he had stepped into a dreamland. The paintings that were there were large and gorgeous. Some of them he even recognized as Markus’s work. He now realized what Markus meant by the size of a painting can change the impact, because these certainly hit him a lot more than when he was looking at them in his portfolio. 

The owner of the studio was suspended in the air working on a painting as they walked in. He looked down to see who was coming in and his eyes lit up when he saw Markus. 

“Markus! I wasn’t expecting you.” Despite his surprise, he seemed extremely happy to see Markus. It warmed his heart. The older man pressed a button which lowered the machine that kept him in the air. Markus moved immediately into action, helping him reconnect his wheelchair. Simon didn’t know what to do so he just stood patiently to the side. After they had gotten the whole event sorted out, Markus hugged his father. 

“I wanted to surprise you.” 

“That’s you did. Who’s your friend?” He asked. Simon suddenly got nervous. Markus reached for him to step closer, and he hesitantly did. Markus grabbed his hand. 

“This...is Simon.” Mr.Manfred eyebrows rose and a smirk formed on his face. 

‘Oh, is this the same Simon that you were texting?” Markus’s face instantly colored, and Simon wasn’t sure how he didn’t blush as well.

“Yes, this is him,” Markus spoke quickly. Mr.Manfred chuckled and held out his hand. “ It’s nice to meet you, Simon.”

He smiled back. “It’s nice to meet you too. Markus has talked a lot about you.” 

“Good things I hope.” 

He laughed. “Nothing but good things.” He assured. He refrained from fidgeting when Mr.Manfred looked deeply into his face. 

“Have we met before, you seem familiar to me.” 

Simon froze. What should he say, he could tell them that they met at his gallery showing, but he was with his husband at the time. He really didn’t think that would go over well. 

"He was at the gallery showing, you might have seen him there. That’s where we met.” Markus quickly intervened. He wasn’t really lying, but he wasn’t telling the truth either. 

“Oh, that must have been it. Let’s all go into the living room, then you can tell me about yourself.” Simon nodded politely but he was dreading this conversation on the inside. He had no idea what Markus had told him and he didn’t want to say anything that would contradict anything he said. 

Still, he followed politely anyway. He sat down on the red couch. It was a little bit like deja vu considering that he and Markus had met on a similar couch. Mr.Manfred called in his caretaker and asked him to get them something to drink. 

“So Simon, how long have you and Markus been seeing each other.” Simon swallowed as discreetly as he could. If he stayed simple and to the point. 

“For just a couple of months. Not long after we met.’ Shut up Simon, that was too much information. But it really didn’t tell anything, now that he thought about it. 

“What do you do for a living.” He asked, continuing on with his questions. 

“I’m a doctor, a Pediatrician actually. I’m not working right now, but I plan to soon.” He said simple and to the point. 

“Hm, what made you decide to come to my gallery then? It seems like an odd place for you to be.” The question seemed innocent enough, but for some reason, Simon got the feeling that the question was loaded and asked for something else. He refused to get nervous. 

“I... went with a friend.” Mr.Manfred nodded slowly. 

“A friend huh?” Simon was taken aback by the way he said the question. He glanced at Markus who was looking a little confused and slightly defensive as well. Luckily, his caretaker arrived with the drinks he asked for. They each took one, the caretaker gave Simon another smile, which set Markus even more on edge before he left the room to leave them amongst themselves. 

Simon sipped his drink nervously. They were all silent for a moment. 

“So are you both going to tell me the truth or am I going to have to keep being cryptic?” Markus blinked. 

“W-what are you talking about dad?” Mr.Manfred gave Markus a look only a parent could replicate.

“Elijah told me everything, Markus.” 

Markus instantly got nervous, he obviously at a loss for what to say. “He w-what?”

“I know all about him being married, and all about the age difference between the two of you. Elijah told me everything, although in his defense he was piss drunk.” 

“D-dad– I-I can explain.“ Mr.Manfred held up a hand to silence him. 

“Stop. I was hoping that you would tell me of your own free will, but you always were stubborn. And I suppose I can understand why you didn’t. I don’t need you to explain anything to me Markus, nor am I going to judge you. That would make me a big hypocrite if I did.” Markus paused and blinked a few times. 

“What do you mean?” He asked. 

Mr. Manfred rolled his chair so that he was right in front of them. He sighed. “There’s something I never told you about your brother. Leo’s mother... was married when we met.” Markus was taken aback, he obviously had no knowledge of this.

“I thought that she was just a fan that you met at a party.” Mr.manfred nodded. 

“She was. That was the omitted story that we paid to have published because the truth was so much more ugly. In truth, she was a fan and we did meet at a party, but she was very much married, and even worse she had two other kids at the time.” Simon winced. He could almost understand that. He was lucky that Michael never wanted to adopt kids. Simon couldn’t imagine doing what he did if they had them. He would have put up with Michael and every flaw about him for them.

“This was obviously when I was much younger and not stuck in this chair. Leo’s mother caught my eye, but mostly that was because what she was wearing.” Markus grimaced but he obviously wanted to hear the rest of this story so he soldiered on.

“I knew that she was married, and she that she was married, but we didn’t care. We thought it would be just a bit of fun. No one would know, so no one could get hurt. We knew, just knew, that there couldn’t be any major consequences. Well, we were both wrong about that. We ended up bringing a child into the world and into the middle of nothing but drama. Our affair ended her marriage, and broke up her family and do you want to know what the worst part was? We didn’t even love each other.” Mr.Manfred sighed. 

“The difference between our situations is that her situation wasn’t like yours, Simon. She wasn’t unhappy in her relationship. She really didn’t want her husband to find out because he was a good man, he took care of her, he loved her, took care of their kids. He was a great person. She loved him, she said that she did. But she decided to cheat on him anyway because she wanted to and she didn’t think that she was going to get caught.” 

“Now I look at you and Markus and after Elijah told me about your situation with your I’m assuming soon to be ex-husband now, that things were much different between the two of you. As a father, I can’t say I approve of how your relationship came to be, but as a person with more experience in this world than the both of you combined, I will say that love isn’t easy. I wish it was like the cheesy romance movies where everything happened perfectly and there was only mild heartache and no one really got hurt. But real life isn’t like. Relationships aren’t perfect and sometimes situations like this happen. I wish that love was simple, but the hard reality is that it isn’t. People make mistakes, and other people can get hurt from those mistakes, but in the end, you still made those mistakes and the important thing is to learn from them. I can see that you two deeply care about each other, you two make each other happy, and for right now... that’s enough for me.”

Simon and Markus really didn’t know what to say. He supposed he should be glad that his father could relate to him and wasn’t angry about the affair or the age difference. But he still didn’t know what to say. 

“Simon, Elijah assured me that you’re not a bad person. So the only thing I’m going to ask is that you not break my boy's heart.” 

Simon smiled. “I won’t.” 

And he didn’t plan to.

*** 

Had never been glad to walk through the door of their little apartment as he was now. It had been a long stressful day, although the time they spent with Markus’s father was nice despite the awkward start. He showed him around his studio, told many stories about Markus much to the green-eyed man's embarrassment. He even was able to get Markus to play the piano and sing for him. Markus was highly embarrassed but once he saw him enjoying it so much he embraced the role. He played and sung quite a few songs for him. Simon loved his voice and he was going to have to force him to sing for him more. 

Eventually, it got late and they decided to leave. Markus had been really clingy to him as they said their goodbyes. It more than likely had something to do with the smiles that the caretaker was throwing his way. Simon didn’t at all care about the looks that he was receiving, but Markus was apparently very jealous. He was flattered and thrilled by it at the same time. 

They quickly went and grabbed a bite to eat, since neither of them wanted to cook before they headed back home. He was expecting Princess to be happy and jump them when they got home and freed her but she just peeked an eye open at him before she snuffled right back to sleep. It wasn’t surprising she never really got back up after a certain time. He gave her a few pets and placed her into her portable cage instead. He pressed the button closing the door, and began to take off his jacket. 

“I hope she’s not mad at me for leaving her alone.” 

“I doubt it.”

He turned around to face Markus. His voice sounded a little clipped and Simon wasn’t used to it so it instantly stood out. He hung his jacket up on the hook on the wall. 

“Markus, is something wrong?” He asked. 

“Nope.” Simon raised an eyebrow. Yes, there was. He could tell by the way that he exaggerated the ‘P’. Markus was turned away from him, he was taking his own jacket off. His shoulders were tense. Simon was really confused. Markus to his knowledge had no reason to be angry. He didn’t think that he did anything. So what was wrong? Walking up behind the young man, he wrapped his arms around his waist and rested his head against his shoulder. 

“What’s the matter, Markus?” 

The young man didn’t answer him right away. “Nothing it’s just–he was smiling at you a lot wasn’t he?” 

Simon blinked. Who was he talking about? He received a few smiles that day from people, a lot of them were random strangers. “Who was smiling at me?”

“Andrew!” 

His fathers caretaker? Well, yeah he was flashing him a few smiles, he obviously thought he was attractive, however, he hadn’t been looking at him like that. He–oh goodness, he suddenly understood why Markus was upset. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one who could get jealous. 

He smiled despite himself.

“You’re smiling. I can feel you smiling, why are you smiling?” The pretty-eyed man questioned. 

“Because you’re cute jealous.”

Markus pouted and shrugged. “I’m not... jealous.” He mumbled. Simon smiled wide. 

“Aww, you’re pouting! That’s so cute!”

“Shut up, I’m not pouting!”

Simon laughed and walked around to face him. He kept his arms around him and pulled him close. “You don’t have to worry, the pretty caretaker isn’t going to steal my affections.”

“So you think he’s pretty?!”

Simon smiled, but he needed to stop. Markus was obviously upset about this. He pulled him into a kiss. His was pretty chaste but it was long. “He’s not as pretty as you.” He said after he broke the kiss. Markus rolled his eyes but he blushed anyway, his lovely freckles standing out against the red.

“I’m not pretty, I’m ruggedly handsome.”

Simon smiled. He kissed him briefly again before he dropped down to his knees. “Let me show you how handsome you are.” Markus instantly forgot about his jealousy as he pressed his face against the already rising bulge. At first, he didn’t do anything just continue to rub his face against it, but when Markus began to grow slightly impatient, he reached for the edge of his pants and with his teeth, he undid the button. Markus’s breath hitched, this was obviously turning him on a lot more than he wanted to admit. 

Simon reached for his zipper next. He grasped it between his teeth and with a slow tug began pulling it down. The slow sound was the only thing the both of them could focus on. Once the zipper was down he had to get his hands involved. He reached up and tugged on the opening. Pulling it open, Markus was already at full mast and he hasn’t even put his mouth on him yet. Simon contemplated a moment. He could tease him, and suck him through the fabric like he had done to him what seemed like ages ago but it was only a few weeks. But he didn’t think Markus wanted to be teased at this moment. They had plenty of time for that later. And so he pulled down the fabric blocking his way until Markus sprung free from his constraints.

He wasted no time circling the head with his tongue, before taking the length into his mouth and giving a few lazy bobs. Markus sucked in a sharp breath and cursed. Simon hadn’t actually given Markus a blow job in their time together. Markus had of course done it to him, but Simon never got the chance. Probably because any of the time that he thought about it or had the chance he instead wanted Markus’s cock in his ass instead of his mouth.

He didn’t realize what he had been missing. He could feel himself stirring in his own pants at Markus’s obvious pleasure. Markus was thick and heavy in his mouth. He weighed down his tongue and filled his mouth full. Precome leaking from the tip and coating his tongue. He swallowed it down eagerly. He hallowed his cheeks and began sucking, Markus grabbed his hair and that really got him going. He pulled all the way back laving his tongue on the tip swallowing more of he precome, before taking him back in and massaging his tongue underneath feeling velvety texture of his erection and bumps of his veins. 

It had been a little while since he had done this, so all too soon his jaw started to get fatigued and he could feel his teeth getting in the way a little more than he liked. Markus didn’t complain in the least, but he didn’t feel that he wasn’t performing to the best of his ability. Bravely, he tried to take him deeper but his gag reflex stopped him. 

Markus chuckled and caressed his cheeks. “Whoa, easy.” He said breathlessly. Simon realized that he wouldn’t be able to give him the blow job that he wanted to, so he had to perform to the best of his ability. He took Markus back in as much as he could manage, and grabbed what he couldn’t fit with his hand. Hollowed his cheeks again and began bobbing his head, massaging with his hand what he couldn’t fit the opposite way. Saliva dripped from the corner of his lips, and the noises in the apartment were loud and lewd.

“Ugh, fuck, Simon,” His hands found his hair again, and Simon could feel that he wanted to thrust, but he refrained so that he didn’t hurt him. He would be able to take it eventually, they just needed to keep practicing.

Simon looked up at him from under his lashes. Markus bit his lips, his beautiful skin flushed with arousal. Markus rubbed a hand on his cheek. “Fuck, Simon. Mhn, You’re so perfect.” Simon adverted his eyes. He couldn’t help it. He was anything but perfect, but he appreciated the sentiment anyway. 

He shifted on his knees. He was uncomfortably aroused. The need to take care of it was great but the need to please Markus was greater. But that didn’t stop him from reaching down and giving himself a few little rubs. He moaned, and Markus tossed back his head and groaned at the vibrations. Markus’s little hip moments were beginning to grow shaky and uneven. He was close, they both knew it. Simon leaned his head back and swirled his tongue around the head again, before leaning in and giving it a firm suck. He grabbed Markus firmly with both his hands giving him a few firm pumps while lapping up the now drizzling precome that was pouring from him. Markus’s hips surged forwards and he came. Simon leaned his head back and opened his mouth in order to catch some, but the majority of it landed on his face. Simon licked his lips and what he could reach that had splashed on his face before he finally leaned back.

Markus panted. His knees were shaking as though they were going to collapse, but the younger man managed to stay upright until he caught his breath. 

“Holy fuck, Simon. I think that was the hottest thing I have ever seen.” His voice was a garbled mess, and Simon felt smug that he was able to make it that way. But now he felt sticky and in need of a shower, and he was impossibly hard and that needed to be taken care of. Luckily, Markus didn’t leave him hanging too long. 

He helped him off his knees which were a little stiff from having been on the floor for so long, or possibly his age, but he would go with the first option. 

“Let’s get in the shower and get you taken care of.” Simon smiled because the saying had two meanings and he was looking forward to both of them. 

***

Tuesday, November 12th, 2038

There was no greater day for Simon than when he received notice that his divorce was finalized. That sounded so horrible to say, but that was just how he felt. He no longer had to deal with Michael for anything. He could finally put this horrific chapter behind him and move on with his life. Markus had been oh so cute when he told him his divorce was finalized, he got all shy and asked he could finally introduce him as his boyfriend now. Simon was all too happy to oblige to the request. 

He was happy to finally be able to say that they were a couple now. Not that they already didn’t act like one. There a lot of ups for them during these few months, but they did occasionally have their downs. 

Simon still remembered the first time they had a serious argument. It had honestly gotten as far as it did because he didn’t take the whole thing as seriously as he should have. He and Markus had gone to dinner. He had been receiving some smiles from the waiter, and Markus did NOT like that. He, of course, wasn’t interested in the waiter and didn’t take the smiles that he was receiving seriously. Markus had. By the end of it all they both ended up saying some things that they shouldn’t have in the midst of screaming at each other, and Markus ended up storming out of the apartment to cool down. 

Now, both of them could have handled the situation a lot better, BUT they were both stubborn. 

Simon cried he would admit, he and Markus had never argued like that before and he was worried if his mother was right. Was the whole attraction wearing off, was he seeing what his relationship with the younger man was going to dissolve into? 

It didn’t help that he barely had any self-esteem. Markus was so lovely and gorgeous, and kind and amazing, he would easily find someone to replace him. Simon, he was already halfway to forty, wasn’t anything special to look at, and currently didn’t have really have any accomplishments to his name. Who would be attracted to that? 

He knew if what he had with Markus ended, then that would be it for him. He didn’t want to put himself out there like that again only to keep getting hurt. He didn’t need other people, he would find a place and become the male equivalent of a cat lady but with dogs. He didn’t even need anyone for sex, that’s what his hand and toys were there for. He was honestly being an oversensitive idiot, and Markus proved that when he came back not even an hour later with his favorite coffee and muffin and a sheepish but sincere apology.

He really cried then and apologized and Markus started freaking out because he was crying and then apologized more and then they started arguing about why the other shouldn’t apologize. Then they apologized for that argument and they ended up having sex. The whole things was a mess. 

Simon remembered this distinctly not just because it was their first fight, but after they had sex and he was dozing he heard Markus tell him... that he loved him. Now Markus wasn’t aware that he was awake when he said it, and he was so shocked that he didn’t say anything back. But the knowledge changed everything completely. He knew at that moment, that he loved Markus as well. He had been in denial about it, but he couldn’t deny it anymore. He had fallen in love with the younger man and that was fact.

He hadn’t told Markus he loved him back yet. He wanted to, he didn’t even know why he was holding back. He already knew that Markus loved him. He guessed he just didn’t think that it was the right time. Or he was really just that much of a chicken. Probably the latter. 

Currently, he was in the kitchen fixing himself a bagel. Markus was rushing frantically around the apartment trying to gather his things. He had woken up late and was severely running late for his meeting. Markus had FINALLY finished working on his series that he had been working on since they met, and thanks to some connection from his father, which Simon made Markus begrudgingly take, found a gallery that was willing to host them. Word had quickly gotten out the famous Carl Manfred’s son was having a gallery opening and hundreds of people in the art circle was going to show to see what his work looked like. This made Markus a frantic anxious mess. He had to make sure that everything was perfect and the paintings were set up the correct way to ensure that people got the message. 

With the showing only a day away. Simon had yet to see the paintings that his boyfriend produced. The young man wanted to show him at the gallery opening. Whatever they looked like, this whole thing was important to Markus, and since this was his first showing the stress was starting to get to the younger man. Simon tried to make him relax as best as he could, but the closer the showing got the more he freaked out. 

Speaking of whom, Markus rushed into the kitchen and grabbed an apple, quickly kissed him on the cheek muttering how late he was, before slapping his rear for no reason, before rushing out the kitchen and the front door. Simon calmly picked up his keys which he forgot on the counter, and then and grabbed his wallet which he also forgot and waited by the door. He chewed on his bagel thoughtfully and not even a minute a later Markus came rushing back into the apartment. He paused when saw Simon standing there holding out items he returned for. 

“See, this is why you’re perfect.” Markus quickly leaned forward and pecked him on the lips before he rushed out again. Simon shook his head and went to go lay on their ‘bed’ he grabbed his–Markus’s– laptop. He was currently in the process of getting his medical license renewed in Detroit. He had some paperwork to fill out and send into the medical board. He was honestly excited to get back to work. It was almost like he had his life on pause when he was married to Michael, and now he was pressing play again. It was sort of like that now that he thought about it. 

He quickly decided to check the news, just to make sure that he was up to date on current events. A certain headline caught his attention. ‘...Cyberlife CEO Elijah Kamski turns down the deal to merge with weapons manufacture Michael Smith, does this mean to end for his the weapons manufacturers company...” then the article goes on to explain how Michael’s company numbers were in the mud as the military moved onto another weapons manufacturer who prices were cheaper but weapons were just as good. Michael tried to merge with Cyberlife in a desperate attempt to save his company. With this deal falling through it was estimated that the company wouldn’t last another six months. 

Simon grimaced as he finished reading the article. He actually felt really bad for Michael, he didn’t know that he was going through any of this. No wonder he’d always come home in a bad mood. This knowledge didn’t excuse his behavior, however, instead of taking his anger out on him he could have just talked to him about his problems instead. Simon would have supported him if he had known, but he wasn’t there to be his verbal punching bag. It didn’t really matter now, Michael wasn’t his husband anymore. He wished him the best, but what he was going through didn’t really concern him. 

He was in the middle of filling out his paperwork when he received a call. He answered it without really thinking. “Hello?”

“Hello, Simon.” He blinked. 

“Mr.Kamski?”

The man sighed, “How many times do I have to tell you that you can call me Elijah.” 

During the last few weeks, as his divorce was being finalized he and Markus had actually spent a lot of time with his family. It was wonderful getting to know them without the worry and guilt of an affair on his shoulders. Most of them knew how they got together, but they didn’t bring it up. It didn’t matter to them how they got together, even if they didn’t approve of it, as long as Markus was happy and he was treating the young man right. Elijah had expressly apologized for telling Markus’s father about the nature of their relationship, he swore that he was extremely drunk, which his fiancé fully assured them he was. They had all come to welcome Simon into the odd little family of theirs and even asked Simon to invite his folks for Thanksgiving. 

He really had to think about that one, he loved his mom, but he couldn’t only take so much of her at once. 

“I’m sorry, Elijah. Markus isn’t here if he's the reason you called.”

“Yes, I'm aware. I’m calling for you, hence the reason I called YOUR phone.” Simon rolled his eyes. 

“I’m sure that one way or another you’ve heard the news about your ex-husband and his company.” Simon stopped what he was doing, so he could pay attention better. Why would Elijah be calling him about Michael?

“Yeah, I just read an article about it while I was checking the news actually.”

“Good. I wanted to warn you about Michael. When he left my office, he was NOT happy. He hasn’t been looking too great already these last couple of months, and he probably tastes like alcohol given how he smells of it half the time. From what I can tell, he doesn’t appear to be in a good mindset, and I just want you to be careful in case you run into him while you're out.”

Oh goodness, Simon REALLY didn’t like the sound of that. He knew just how angry Michael could get. He never laid a hand on him, but he didn’t know where his mind would be now that they weren’t together anymore.

“Thank you for the concern and the warning. I’ll be sure to keep it in mind.” 

“You’re quite welcome. I have to run, I’ll see you at the gallery tomorrow.” With that, he hung up. Simon wasn’t offended, he never really said goodbye to anyone he was on the phone with.

After Simon set the phone down, he thought about what he was just told. He honestly didn’t think that he was in any danger. Michael could get angry, but he wasn’t stupid. He was actually really intelligent. He was sure that he would be able to pull himself out of the situation his company was in. What worried him was his obvious alcohol intake. Michael LIKED to drink. Simon absolutely HATED it when he would come home piss drunk and try to sleep with him. Simon almost thought he had a problem, but then he would go months without drinking. Simon had wondered if he permanently picked up to the habit. He guessed not.

Simon shrugged. What was he doing worrying about Michael for? He wasn’t his responsibility anymore. He hated that he was such a caring soul sometimes. He knew that Michael could pull himself out of this situation if he just got his shit together.

But again, that had nothing to do with him. 

***  
Wednesday, November, 13th, 2038 

Markus was a panicking mess when they left to go to his gallery. Not even the quicky Simon had given him in the shower had calmed him down. Well, it did briefly before reality set on him again. He fiddled with the tie of his suit anxiously so Simon kissed his face and soothed him while the car drove. 

“But what if nobody likes them and they laugh at me.” Simon kissed the freckled bridge of his nose. “Nobodies going to laugh at you. You know why? Because you’re extremely talented, and your work is amazing.” He punctuated what he said with another kiss to his cheek.

Markus groaned in disbelief. So he kissed him again. “Have I ever lied to you?”

“Yes, you have. You told me that you didn’t eat the last of my New York fudge ice-cream and you did. Then you tried to cover it up by buying me another.” 

Simon laughed. “Okay, first of all, I can’t believe you’re still holding onto that! Who else could have eaten it, Markus! Princess can’t open the fridge. I told you I was sorry and I bought you a new one!”

“I didn’t want a new one I wanted mine!”

Simon closed his eyes and shook his head. “You’re such a dork!”

“You love me anyway.” Simon bit his lip before he could say anything. Instead, he just kissed Markus again. He planned on telling Markus that he loved him but later tonight after he finished screwing his brains out in congratulation.

“Don’t be nervous, Markus.” He said after he broke the kiss.

“How can it not be. The gallery owner suggest that I give a speech before we let anyone inside, how am I suppose to talk in front of all those people?’ 

Simon shrugged. “Picture them all naked or in their underwear.” 

Markus laughed. “I don’t think that’s a wise idea.”

“Okay, then picture me in my underwear.”

Markus snorted. “That’s DEFINITELY not a good idea. That might end up being a little scandalous.”

Simon rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He kissed him again quickly for good measure as they quickly arrived at the gallery, a lot of people were already outside dressed up and waiting. A lot of them looked familiar. Simon figured they were apart of the same circle that was at his father's showing. 

He hoped that he was right. He saw Markus’s talent and knew just how amazing his work was, but that didn’t guarantee that other people would as well. He hoped to god that none of them were snobs, he knew how important this was to Markus. 

Markus took a deep breath before he stepped out of the car. Simon quickly followed him and allowed his car to drive off and park itself. Markus was instantly accosted by people, giving him overly sweet words. Obviously kissing his ass and trying to play nice because of who his father was. The gallery owner intervened. 

“People you’ll all have a chance to talk to him later, but first he has a few words that he would like to say before we open the doors.” He gestured for Markus to take a stand on the steps in front of the crowd. He looked incredibly nervous, so he offered the best encouraging smile he could.

“*Ahem* Um, Hello. My name is Markus Manfred, as you all know. I Um... I apologize, I’m really nervous.” The crowd gave a little murmur of laughter, before quieting out. Simon again gave Markus an encouraging smile.

He cleared his throat again. “The paintings that you are about to see, I started a few years ago. I’ve never been the most open person when it came to emotion or sharing my feelings and painting has always been a way for me to get across what I couldn’t say. I’ve never shown them to anyone else, not even my father. Each painting represents and different part of my life and what I was going through in that part of my life. I’m hoping that through these painting people can connect with me, and who knows maybe my paintings will help them if they’re going through something similar. So without further ado, I’d like to introduce you guys to my series which I named. ‘Into me.’ I hope you all enjoy it.” The crowd clapped, and the gallery owner opened the door. 

Simon walked up the stairs, he leaned in and whispered in Markus’s ear. “You did good.”

“You think so, I didn’t sound stupid did I?”

He shook his head. “Everyone was enamored with you. Now let’s go inside, I really want to see what everyone else is seeing right now.” He went to step inside, but Markus stopped him. 

“Simon, before we go in, there’s something you need to know. One of the painting features you.” He narrowed his eyes, he trusted that it wasn’t anything inappropriate.

“It’s nothing naughty I promise. But like I said, each part represents something important that happened in my life, and...you’re important to me Simon. So I painted you. I should have told you but–“ Simon rushed forward and kissed him. He felt like his heart exploded with love. Knowing that he was important enough to Markus that he painted him into his series touched him more than it should have.

“Oh my you two, save some for the after party.” Simon broke the kiss a faint blush on his face. No one could mistake Mr.Kamski’s voice.

He standing at the bottom step, dressed formally much the same as them with his fiancé Connor next to him.

“You’re one to talk Elijah, you and Connor are always all over each other.” Markus commented. 

Elijah shrugged. “I have every right to be, have you see him?” 

Connor blushed. “Elijah, stop.”

Elijah chuckled and walked up the stairs, he pulled Markus into a hug. “Carl sends his love. He really wishes that he could be here tonight, but he wants you to know that he’s proud.”

Markus had a small sad frown on his face. “How’s he doing today?”

Elijah smiled. “Better, I think. He didn’t seem as tired today.”

Simon smiled sadly at Markus. This was another reason they spent so much time with his family. Markus’s father had fallen really ill suddenly and was currently bedridden. They had been worried that he wasn’t going to pull through when he first fell ill, it scared Markus nearly to death, but to their surprise, the old man pulled through. He simply brushed away their concern and said, it wasn’t his time just yet. 

Simon remembered sitting next to him while the man rested and reading while Markus went out to pick up some medicine he needed. Simon hadn’t even been aware he was awake. 

“You’re good for him you know.” Simon was surprised by his voice. 

“Mr. Manfred. I didn’t know that you were awake, do you need something?”

He weakly shook his head. “Markus has always been so closed off.” He continued. 

“I don’t know why perhaps because he was teased so much growing up. All the other kids having strapping young men as their father and then there I was an old man in a wheelchair. I couldn’t give him the experience that he should have had when he was growing up. Elijah tried to fill in when he could but he was busy running that company of his, and while he loved Markus he wasn’t his responsibility. During his teenage years when he should have been out and partying and dating, he was at home taking care of me. I made mistakes when it came to him and his brother, but...I hope... that they still became good men anyway.” Simon got up from his book and went and sat at the edge of the bed. He grabbed the older mans hands. He felt so fragile in his grip.

He couldn’t say anything for his brother Leo, but he knew Markus. “Markus is a good man Mr.Manfred. Probably the best one that I’ve ever met. You may not have been able to give him the life you thought he deserved, but I think that you did right by him.”

Mr.Manfred sighed. “Markus loves you.” Simon smiled. By this point, he knew that he did. “I’ve NEVER seen Markus look at anyone the same way that he looks at you. And I can tell that you love him.” Simon adverted his eyes but nodded. He did. 

“You two haven’t had to most conventional start to your relationship, but you two work together in a way that I haven’t seen in a long time. Despite how you two got together, and the differences between you two, I think that you’re made for each other... I’m going to be around for him forever that’s a fact. I’ll be happy going, knowing that he won’t be alone.” Simon understood what he meant. Markus wouldn’t technically be alone, he would still have the others in his life. But he understood what he meant. 

“Simon, what are you thinking about so hard about?” Simon snapped out of his thoughts. 

“Nothing.” He said quickly. “Let’s go in.” 

Markus raised an eyebrow at him, but he didn’t question him further. They both walked inside and Simon’s breath was stolen by a large painting. I was in his usual abstract style. This one was featuring a sleeping infant being held by two different pairs of hands. The cooler overtone of the painting and the way that the figures were silhouetted by white had to have been him being found as a baby in the snow by Elijah and his father.

There were many paintings like one. There was one that was just a painting of hands themselves. It was a child’s hands and they were placed against an obviously older man's hands. It again was silhouetted in white. That had to represent him and his father. The farther they got into the gallery the older the darker the paintings got. These had to have been during his time in high school. 

There was one that was featuring a woman and a male. You couldn’t see her face, but he was crumpled over as though she was in pain, and the man behind her was grasping her shoulders trying to comfort her. The woman was painted in warm colors and the man was painting in cool colors, and they were silhouetted in black instead of white. This had to have been about what happened to his ex-girlfriend North. The male must have been him, the cool colors he painted him in had to represent how he thought he failed and wasn’t there for her.

The painting began to lighten back up as the neared the end of the gallery showing. The last two painting stole his breath. One was of two figures that were romantically embraced in a kiss, but they were white silhouettes against a black background. This had to represent the time during their affair when they had to hide what they had.

The last painting nearly brought him to tears. It was a giant abstract portrait of his face. His eyes were closed and his face was peaceful. Markus must have painted him while he was asleep, around him he was surrounded by blue orchids, which were his favorite flowers. All of this was laid against a pure white background He turned towards Markus.

“Markus...this is so beautiful! I–I don’t know what to say.” Markus caressed his cheek, Simon couldn’t stop the tear that escaped his eye which was wiped away. He kissed him on his forehead. 

“You don’t have to say anything.”

Oh, he knew what he wanted to say, but he would wait until later. Instead, he just hugged Markus. It wasn’t long after they finished surveying the gallery that everyone else did as well and they all came looking for Markus. They gushed and gushed about how amazing his work was, but Simon got the sense that they were sincere. Markus got a lot a job offers and inquires about buying his work. 

Simon was happy for him, but he was quickly overwhelmed by the number of people. They, unfortunately, got separated by the large crowd bum-rushing their way to Markus. Elijah’s fiancé Connor, however, found him and they spoke for a while about this and that while Markus shined. Connor was nice he found, he tended to blend a bit into the background when he was near Elijah, but he figured that anyone would. Simon got the feeling that Connor like it that way and he more aware and in control than people thought.

Eventually, after so many drinks he had to go to the bathroom. He took his time, the showing wasn’t going to be over anytime soon. He was so incredibly happy for Markus, he knew he had talent and that other people would be able to see it. Markus was worried about nothing. 

Simon hoped that he would gain more self-esteem about himself and his work. Hah, who was he to talk about self-esteem? The second he thought Markus was upset with him he turned into a self-pitying fool. Markus had done nothing but prove that he didn’t care about his age, or his lack of career and was only interested in him for HIM numerous times. 

He supposed it was just hard to accept that someone like Markus would even want someone like him. He didn’t think he deserved Markus. Markus deserved someone that he would grow old with, not someone who would grow old on him. He–

“This is what you left me for?” Simon's heart froze and he snatched his hands from under the water. He whirled around towards the door. He swallowed thickly. 

“Michael. W-what are you doing here? How did you know that I was here?” 

"I’ve been following you around, plus I heard all about this damn showing, I figured you would be here. For HIM.” He looked him up and down. 

“You look good Simon, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you up close.”

Simon didn’t know what to say. He glanced down at his phone on the counter. He wanted to reach for it but he knew that Michael would see it, and he obviously wasn’t in the best mindset. He didn’t want to see how he would react.

“Yes, it has been a while.” He replied simply. 

Michael laughed and ran through his hair. “You know, I think that this is the longest time that we’ve ever been apart from each other. I keep waking up in the morning expecting you to be there, and it’s a cruel reality when you aren’t.” Michael stepped forward and Simon pressed back against the counter. He was trapped. 

Michael did not look to be in his right mind. He had obviously been drinking, but there was something else. The way that he moved. It was erratic like he was twitching almost. He was on some type of drug, he had to be. Simon said nothing, he tried to press even farther against the counter even though he knew he had nowhere to go. Eventually, Michael was standing right in front of him. He was extremely close, Simon wanted to gag. He reeked of alcohol.

Simon bit back a sound of distress when he placed his hands on his waist. His eyes burned with unfallen tears. He was scared. He had never been scared of Michael before, but he was right now.

“Take me back, Simon. My life has been shit without you. I didn’t realize how much I needed you until you weren’t there. I need you right now baby, so much. Please.” Michael’s voice trailed off in a whisper. Simon tilted his head away when he tried to kiss him. That obviously pissed Michael off. His hands tightened painfully on his waist. 

“Michael...no.” His voice was shaking. He was afraid and he couldn’t hide it. 

Simon jumped when Michael slammed his hands against the counter. “WHY?!”

“Michael... I–I don’t love you anymore.” He choked out.

“Bullshit! You don’t just come away from a twenty-year relationship, without feeling something for the person you were with!”

Simon didn’t know what to say, he knew no matter what it was Michael wasn’t going to take it well. He closed his eyes. “I do still care for you, Michael.” He might as well not deny that. He was worried about him. Even when they were still together, and he treated him like shit. He still cared. 

“But I don’t love you.” 

Simon choked out a sob of fear when Michael grabbed him by his throat. “Because of him. It has to be because of him. What is he giving you Simon? What made you LEAVE ME FOR HIM!”

“Michael, you’re not thinking straight. Please, let me go.” The tears escaped when Michael squeezed tighter. 

“What made you leave him for me?” He repeated squeezing harder with every word. 

“H-he loves me.” 

Michael started laughing. Simon had been scared of him before, but now he was terrified. "I loved you, Simon! I loved you! I took care of you for twenty fucking years! I’ve been unhappy in our marriage Simon, but I never fucking CHEATED on you!”

“I-I’m sorry.” He didn’t know what else to say.

“Oh! Now, you’re sorry! You weren’t fucking sorry when you signed those divorce papers! You weren’t sorry when you were sleeping with him, while I was away!” 

He was sorry then. Michael just didn’t know that. He felt guilty about it at nearly every moment, that’s why he left him. In part for his own well being, in part, because he wanted to be with Markus, but mostly because Michael didn’t deserve to be cheated on. No matter how he treated him.

“How long after you met did you start sleeping with him, and don’t piss me off and lie to me.” He flexed his hand to reiterate. 

Simon blinked and another tear fell. “A week and few days.” Michael huffed out a disbelieving laugh. “A week! A fucking WEEK!” He took a deep breath. 

“How long did it go on before you decided to leave.” 

“About a month.” He whispered. 

“So the whole fucking time I was gone. I was sitting in that hotel room fucking miserable for how I treated you and you were putting out for some other man.” Michael had no one to blame for that but himself. He would take responsibility for cheating, but Michael put himself in that situation. 

“You know what it’s okay. It’s okay. We can work through this. Take me back Simon and we can work through this.” Simon could barely think. He had no idea what Michael was on, but he knew that he was in danger.

“Michael, let me go... please.” 

“NO! Not until you fucking take me back. I love you! You think that fucking kid loves you, you think he can provide you with the lifestyle you need. I’ve seen that piece of shit of an apartment you’re staying in! Is that what you fucking want, because I can give that to you if you want it! We can move into a shitty place like that! I’m willing to do that because I FUCKING LOVE YOU!”

Simon shook his head slowly. No, this wasn’t love. He should have seen what this was all those years ago. He was just a possession for Michael. He lost his prize toy to someone else, and now he wants it back.

Simon tried a softer tactic. He lightly caressed Michael’s cheek. “Michael, if you love me like you say you do... if you’ve ever loved me...you’ll let me go.” Michael closed his eyes. His face twisted into an ugly expression of pain and anger. 

“You’re not going to take me back are you?”

Simon shook his head. “No.” 

“Because you love him?” 

Simon nodded. “Yes.”

Michael sighed. He brought his other hand up to caress Simon’s neck.“Fine. FINE. If I can’t have you,” He whispered, running his thumb over his bottom lip. “Neither can he!” Simon grabbed his hands as they tighten suddenly around his throat. He tried to call out Michael’s names, but he choked on it when Michael squeezed harder. Instead, he started fighting. He pushed at Michael's face hitting and scratching trying to get him to release him! Simon dug his finger into his eye, he gained leverage and was able to knee him in the groin! Michael grunted and released him. Simon sucked in a breath but didn’t have time to take in more. He immediately made a break for the door, Unfortunately, Michael was right after him!

He heard the surprised and confused murmurs as he screamed for help! He screamed when Michael finally caught him and knocked him to the ground! He wasn’t there for long because he was immediately ripped off of him!

“You mother fucker! Get off of him!” He heard Markus yell.

Elijah’s face came into view. “Oh my god! Are you okay?!” 

Simon coughed trying to catch his breath, but he nodded. He turned around when he heard a crash! Michael had Markus on the ground and he was punching him in the face. Simon got up and tried to pull him off of him.

“Michael STOP!” He cried out when he was backhanded. 

“Get the fuck off me!”

Simon wiped the blood from his lip and tried again, but Markus was able to turn the tables and flip him over. He managed to get a few good punches in, but before Simon could try to get him off Michael, his ex-husband was able to push him off. He made everyone freeze when he stood up and pulled out a handgun. Markus immediately stepped in front of him protectively. Simon tried to get him to move.

“Markus no! He’s on something he’ll shoot you!” Markus wouldn’t move. 

“Look, Mr.Smith. You’re not thinking clearly, I know you’re upset but–“ 

“You have no fucking idea how upset I am! I invite you into my fucking home, give you work and you repay me by fucking my husband! I may not have treated him like I should have, but I loved him...But wait...You’re what started this in the first place, if I get rid of you then everything will be fixed!”

“Michael, no please!” He cried. 

He screamed and closed his eye when he heard a gunshot, but Markus didn’t fall. He opened his eyes, to see Michael on the ground bleeding out his shoulder, but he was still alive. He looked around to see Connor standing there holding a gun. He shook his head went up to Michael kicking the gun away from him. He then holstered his gun and turned Michael around. 

“Michael Smith. You are under arrest for attempted murder and assault. You have the right remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law.” Connor said handcuffing him. He continued reading him his rights, so Simon turned away from him and to Markus. 

Markus lightly brushed the forming bruises on his neck. He then grasped both of his cheeks. Simon grabbed his wrist. His knuckles were busted.

“Are you okay?” He asked. Simon looked up at him, His face was going to have quite a few bruises on him. Simon reached up and wiped the blood away from his nose. He blinked and more tears fell, but he nodded. 

Markus pulled his close, and Simon held onto him tightly. 

***

It took Simon a moment to realize what had almost happened. He didn’t fully realize it until they both got home. After Connor had gotten Michael handcuffed he called for a few more officers on the scene and an ambulance. Michael was taken to the hospital where he would be stitched up because he just had flesh wound, and then he would be taken to jail.

Connor told him that there was plenty of evidence and witnesses to convict him quickly, but he would more than likely get a light sentence considering that he was obviously under the influence of some drug and this was his first offense. His attorney could spin it around where he was severely stressed because of the recent events in his life to get him off easily. But he would make sure that there would be a restraining order placed so he couldn’t come near him, just in case he could make bail.

For him and Markus there would be a lot of damage control they would have to do, but Elijah told them that he would take care of it. For them, the whole ordeal was over... for the rest of the night at least. Markus had gotten his hand wrapped up by the ambulance before they left. He’d have a few bruises but otherwise, he was fine. The ride back to their place had been silent. 

Simon honestly didn’t know what to say. He had no idea that Michael could or would get like that. He knew that he could get angry but NOT like that. It was terrifying. He couldn’t believe that he was married to someone like that. The way that Michael looked at him sent chills down his spine every time he thought about it. He didn’t look at him like he was a person but a toy he had lost to another kid, and he would do anything to make sure that other kid couldn’t keep it. Even if it included breaking it beyond repair. He shuddered as he remembered his hands around his throat.

He knew that Michael was under the influence, but THIS was a lot even for him. Simon knew it wasn’t his fault, but he couldn’t help but blame himself. He couldn’t help but think that he had only gotten like this because of him. But he forced himself to stop from thinking like that. Michael was a grown man, and he was capable and making his own decision. He had decided to get drunk and use drugs, he had decided to come to find him, and under the influence or not he had decided to attack him. 

Simon knew that he wasn’t guiltless. He cheated on Michael, he hurt him. But that was something that he would have to live with. He made his decision and...Michael made his. He felt sorry for him, but he couldn’t blame himself fully either.

Markus had surprisingly been okay with his night being ruined. He was more worried about Simon than he was himself or his reputation. He trusted Elijah would get things sorted. He tried to comfort him as best as he could and as much as Simon would let him. Simon DID blame himself for Markus nearly being shot. That was ALL because of him. Because he hasn’t been brave enough to leave his husband when he saw that he was starting to feel things for Markus. But could he really blame himself for that? He had his reasons... but it still didn’t make it right. Markus could have lost his life, and it would have been his fault. 

“Simon, baby are you okay?” He asked stepping up behind him. Simon hadn’t moved since he walked into the apartment. He placed his hands on his shoulder. 

Simon sniffed. He was holding back tears. “You could have died tonight.”

Markus wrapped his arms around his waist. His voice was shaking as well. “So could’ve you. I was terrified when I heard you screaming and saw him chasing you. I thought I was going to lose you when he pulled out that gun. I should have never let us get separated.” 

Simon knew where his mind was going, he was going back to that party and what happened to his ex-girlfriend. No, this wasn’t his fault and he had no reason to blame himself. 

He turned around in his grip and rested his forehead against his. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Markus pulled his closer. “And it wasn’t yours either.” He whispered. 

Simon opened his eyes and looked into Markus’s. Markus was holding back tears as well. He was truly scared that he had almost lost him. Simon closed his eyes again, the tears threatening to fall all over again. 

He realized how stupid all his worries and fears about his age, his looks, and everything else was. Life was too short and could end at any moment for him to worry about mundane things like that. His age didn’t matter, nor did his looks, or anything that he owned. The only thing that mattered was the time that he got to spend with the people he loved while he could. That was the ONLY thing that mattered.

“I love you.” He whispered. It scared him to say it but it felt like a weight lifted off his chest. “I wanted to tell you for a while but–“

Markus kissed him, and it was holy passionate, he pulled Simon impossibly closer, the pressure darn near bruising against his lips. Simon pulled Markus even closer and returned the kiss with just as much passion as he could muster. They kissed and kissed until Simon felt his lips nearly go numb. Markus broke the kiss and small string on saliva following shortly and then breaking. 

“I love you too.”

Simon smiled. “I know.” 

He kissed him again, gentler this time, but no less passionate and loving. 

You never knew how long you may have with someone, he learned that tonight and he was determined to cherish everything he had with Markus for as long as he had him.

The way they got here took some time and was more than a little controversial. 

But it was completely worth the wait.

**Author's Note:**

> And that’s the end! Honestly, guys, A LOT happened and I could keep going. I honestly cut so much out that I wanted to put in because it didn’t fit anywhere. I could easily wrangle together some more parts, but for the most part, THIS was everything that I wanted to get down. 
> 
> I may return to this little AU I created, there is honestly so much that I could do with it, but for now, it’s done. I hope that you guys enjoyed this story! I had a lot of fun writing it! It was really interesting writing from this point of view, I’ve seen my fair share of relationships like Simon’s fall apart personally from my own family members, and while their situations weren’t ANYTHING like this, the type of toxic relationship Simon had with Michael was. It doesn’t appear controlling or abusive until the controller loses control. Simon may not have been physically abused, but he was in an EXTREMELY unhealthy relationship.
> 
> I worked really hard on this part, so I do hope that you guys drop a comment and tell your thoughts on the ending! 
> 
> Now, I’m going to go and draw nothing but self-indulgent fanart for like a week and then write a small Kamcon fic that’s been nagging at my brain before, I start working on the sequel to my main story.
> 
> Feel free to follow me on Tumblr or Twitter if you wish! I mostly post fanart on Tumblr and random fandom stuff on twitter. It's @ceeridwen99 for both of them.
> 
> Thank you all SO very much for your comments across the series and kudos, It REALLY means a lot to me that you guys like my work!<3333 You all have a wonderful day or night!<33333333


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